Market Wrap
Published
The S&P 500 (SPY) closed up 0.6%, with the Dow adding 0.5% to 51,526.32, as the market shrugged off an escalating Middle East energy crisis in favor of a surging AI and nuclear power trade. Utilities led all sectors, up 2.6%, after Constellation Energy jumped 12.1% on an 890 MW nuclear supply deal with Google that also lifted Talen Energy, Vistra and PSEG, while Technology rose 0.5% and Nvidia touched a fresh all-time high.
The split underneath the headline number was the real story. Crude slid again, with WTI near $88.43 and Brent settling at $100.58, after Saudi Aramco cut Arab Light prices to a six-year low and Energy Secretary Wright said diesel and crude prices have likely peaked, even while acknowledging the Strait of Hormuz remains a conflict zone. Vitol's CEO warned the region has moved from a crude crisis into a shipping crisis, with flows well below the 10-14 million barrels a day needed to stabilize the market and prices risking $200 without it. Saudi Arabia itself absorbed a fresh wave of attacks, with strikes reported on Jazan and Najran airports, an explosion in northern Riyadh, and Houthi missile strikes on a Saudi camp in Jizan, even as Yemeni government forces retook the Red Sea port of Mocha from the Houthis with Saudi-led air support.
Memory and storage names were the clearest casualties of the AI capex boom cutting the other way, with Seagate down 9.5%, Western Digital down 7.0% and SK hynix down 6.4%, as AMD's chief executive Lisa Su said memory supply remains tight even as capacity expands. Corteva surged 12.3% on its seed-unit spinoff into Vylor, and Lamb Weston jumped 7.5% on an earnings beat and raised guidance. Health Care lagged, down 0.2%, with Moderna and Repligen both falling 7.7%, the latter after closing its BioLife Solutions acquisition. Company News Marvell Technology's CEO projected fiscal 2031 revenue of $70 to $90 billion, driving a broad rally in chip and AI-adjacent names. Skydance completed its roughly $78 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, paying just over $31 a share in cash; Warner Bros. Discovery is delisted from Nasdaq and CEO David Zaslav departs the company. McKesson and Clayton, Dubilier & Rice agreed to acquire Option Care Health for $32.05 a share in a deal valuing it at roughly $5.8 billion enterprise value. Uber agreed to acquire ezcater for $2.3 billion in cash. Stryker announced CEO Kevin Lobo will step down at year end, with President Spencer Stiles succeeding him on January 1. Repligen completed its acquisition of BioLife Solutions in a cash-and-stock deal. RPM International reported Q1 EPS of $1.98, roughly in line, and raised its full-year sales and EBITDA outlook to mid-single-digit growth. Lamb Weston beat Q1 estimates and raised its full-year sales, EBITDA and EPS guidance.
Gold continued climbing on the broader uncertainty, trading near $4,179 an ounce, with the London Bullion Market Association's delegate survey now projecting $5,013 within a year. Trump said the dollar is strong, that oil will fall once the war ends, and that he is considering suspending the federal gas tax. Treasury yields remained a background pressure point, with Pimco's Rupert Harrison calling the recent rise "screaming good value" even as higher borrowing costs continue to weigh on corporate America.