Stan Choe
The US stock market is pushing to more records as companies like Dollar Tree, Snowflake and Hormel Foods keep piling up profits. A tentative deal to extend the ceasefire in the war with Iran by 60 days also helped lift the market and rein in oil prices.
The S&P 500 added 0.6 per cent to its all-time high set the day before after drifting between small gains and losses earlier in the morning. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 30 points, or 0.1 per cent, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.9 per cent higher after both indexes also set records the day before.
The Australian sharemarket is set to climb, with futures at 4.48am AEST pointing to a rise of 54 points, or 0.6 per cent, at the open. The ASX fell 1.4 per cent on Thursday. The Australian dollar was trading at US71.64¢.
Stocks turned higher after oil prices gave back most of their own morning gains following reports of the tentative US-Iran agreement, which still needs President Donald Trump’s approval. The price for a barrel of benchmark US crude oil regressed to $US88.78 from an overnight high above $US92.50.
Oil prices have been swinging as hopes rise and fall that the United States and Iran may reach a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and get crude flowing again from the Persian Gulf to customers worldwide. They have climbed enough for a report on Thursday to show that a measure of US inflation accelerated last month to its worst level in three years, roughly matching economists’ expectations.
Even with worries about expensive oil and high inflation, the US stock market has run to records largely because US companies keep making more money. Stock prices tend to follow the path of corporate profits over the long term, and companies have been routinely topping analysts’ expectations for the first three months of 2026.
Dollar Tree’s stock soared 16.2 per cent after it became the latest to report fatter profit than analysts expected. CEO Mike Creedon said improved store conditions helped the retailer make more profit off each $US1 in sales during the latest quarter despite tariffs adding to its costs. The company also gave a forecast for profit over the full year that topped analysts’ expectations.
Kohl’s rallied 18.4 per cent after the retailer reported better results for the latest quarter than analysts had feared, while Best Buy climbed 18.5 per cent following its own better-than-expected profit report. Hormel Foods climbed 13.5 per cent after a strong performance for its Jennie-O ground turkey and exports of its Spam luncheon meat helped it report a better profit than analysts expected.
Snowflake rose 39.4 per cent after saying artificial intelligence continues to be a strong driver of its business, and profit and revenue for the latest quarter exceeded expectations.
They helped offset a dip for Salesforce, which fell 0.6 per cent even though it also reported a better profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Its stock has been under pressure because of worries that AI-powered rivals could steal away its business, even as Salesforce touts its own AI offerings.
In the bond market, Treasury yields eased after oil prices gave up much of their gains and reduced the upward pressure on inflation.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.46 per cent from 4.48 per cent late Wednesday.
High yields in bond markets worldwide recently have threatened to slow economies and undercut prices for stocks and all kinds of other investments. High yields have already forced the average long-term US mortgage rate to its most expensive level in nine months, and they could curtail companies’ borrowing to build the AI data centres that have supported the US economy’s growth recently.
A report on Thursday said the pace of sales of new US homes unexpectedly slowed last month, as higher mortgage rates weighed on the housing market.
In stock markets abroad, indexes dipped across much of Europe and Asia. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.3 per cent for one of the world’s larger losses.
AP
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