Stock market news for May 18, 2026
Traders work in the course of the Hawkeye 360 Inc. preliminary public providing (IPO) on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, US, on Thursday, May 7, 2026.
Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 fell on Monday, slowed down by declines in expertise, as merchants monitored oil costs and bond yields whereas awaiting additional developments with the battle within the Middle East.
The broad market benchmark dropped 0.07% to finish at 7,403.05, whereas the tech-heavy Nasdaq slid 0.51% and closed at 26,090.73. It was the second straight day of declines for each indexes. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 159.95 factors, or 0.32%, at 49,686.12.
seagate led a selloff within the reminiscence chip house after the CEO mentioned throughout a JPMorgan convention that new factories would “take too long.” Seagate fell almost 7% and dragged peer Micron Technology decrease by nearly 6%. The remark exacerbated issues that the reminiscence chip business would not have the capability to fulfill hovering demand.
Alongside Seagate and Micron, shares of Western Digital misplaced 4.8% and sandisk dropped 5.3%. Beyond that, fellow synthetic intelligence-related shares resembling Nvidia and Broadcom misplaced 1% apiece.
Those strikes come throughout a fragile time for shares. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq hit contemporary report highs final week, whereas the Dow briefly reclaimed the 50,000 stage.
However, the key averages suffered a setback Friday, as sovereign bond yields world wide rose. The U.S. 30-year Treasury bond yield hit its highest stage in round a yr. It was final little modified alongside the 10-year Treasury yield. In the UK, the 30-year Gilt yield had scaled to ranges not seen because the late Nineties, together with long-dated Japanese bond yields.
Tech shares, which had been main the market to report highs acquired battered by the spike in yields. The Nasdaq-100 index dropped 1.5% on Friday, marking its worst one-day efficiency since March 27.
Tensions are nonetheless excessive between Iran and the US, preserving oil costs elevated as the trail ahead for the battle stays unclear. West Texas Intermediate futures gained roughly 3% to shut at $108.66 per barrel, whereas Brent Crude settled up greater than 2% at $112.10 a barrel.
The rally in oil costs misplaced steam after President donald trump mentioned in a Truth Social put up Monday that he’s holding off on an attack on Iran that was deliberate for Tuesday. The determination was made on the request of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, whose leaders mentioned that “serious negotiations are now taking place” that would result in a deal that’s “very acceptable” to the US
On Sunday, Trump mentioned Iran needed to “get moving” or there “won’t be anything left“
On high of that, new inflation knowledge launched final week makes the Federal Reserve slicing charges anytime quickly a protracted shot.
“There’s truly inflationary problems,” Ben Fulton, CEO of WEBs Investments, instructed CNBC, calling elevated oil costs a “watershed” situation. “It’s going to be hard to see that offset.”
This signifies that shares may very well be in a “heavy range trade” from right here on out with out optimistic developments out of the Middle East, particularly relating to the Strait of Hormuzhe mentioned.
“I could see people starting to protect profits pretty quickly,” Fulton added.
