Major US Stock Indexes Hit New Record Highs
Iran’s current regime announced all commercial ships would be allowed to pass through the straight of Hormuz. It’s sent the Dow Jones, S&P 500, NASDAQ and Russell 2000 upward today.
The Dow jumped 1000 points today (Friday) and the S&P 500 hit 7100, a new record. It looks at this point that expert year end forecasts are on track. The free flow and production of crude combined with flowing international trade could bring the price of oil rocketing back downward, fueling a bull stock market and global prosperity in 2026.
In fact, there had been optimism this week for the end of that blockade and all indexes are up strongly (NASDAQ up 6.79%, S&P 500 up 4.6%, Dow Jones up 3.95%, and the Russell 2000 up 5.23%). The NASDAQ and Russell both hit intraday highs.
The big story is the price of WTI crude, now dropped to $81 a barrel. Oil stocks are taking a beating of course but the prospect of much lower crude and gasoline prices gives promise to everything from manufacturing to transportation to the travel sector.
Wars and high oil prices don’t seem to phase stock investors who are thinking ahead when this conflict will be over.
In a CNBC interview, Anthony Saglimbene, chief market strategist at Ameriprise Financial said “Investors are now “moving beyond this conflict. I think the market has walked back the worst-case scenarios, and it sees a path for the U.S. and Iran to end the conflict and the Strait of Hormuz to remain open. As long as that remains the most likely path, then markets will discount it.”
A lower gas price could allow the travel industry to find its footing again and continue with what should be a promising year for travel businesses. The next 3 months and 6 months should reveal big growth for the US in particular. Without an event on the weekend, next week’s market activity is likely to be strong. That might mean continued prices rises in the absence of bad news and as gasoline prices fall.
The Republican’s big beautiful bill is also predicted to deliver substantial tax refunds to many Americans acting as big economic stimulus in 2026.
Most of the big loser stocks of the day are oil and energy stocks, along with a few odd ones such as Netflix and Dow Inc. Definitely a tough one for those who purchased US or Canadian oil stocks. However, the oil shortage should continue to keep WTI up above $60.
Top Gainers with Impressive Intraday Growth in Price
Top Gainers included Alaska Air Group (ALK) up 13.4%, YETI Holdings (YETI) up10.26%, Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL) up 10.3%, Polaris Inc. (PII), Ryan Air (RYAAY), United Airlines (UAL), and Construction Partners (ROAD). The transportation and travel theme are strongly represented.
The question is for you as a retail investor, is whether to rush in at this point. If the IRAN regime restarts its persistent, known quest for nuclear bomb capability and closing the straight once more, will you take a bath? Not every analyst believes we have the all clear signal. They’re talking about 2 quarters of low GDP ahead, and that investors might find lower earnings hard to take.
Time to Revisit the AI Data Center and Chips Stocks?
See more on what’s driving the bull stock market, and on AI stocks that might be worth pursuing, including small stocks such as Keel infrastructure. The expert forecasts for the S&P 500’s year end are in and it looks like we are on a path to perhaps an 8000 for the S&P 500.
* this post is for information purposes and is not to be taken as investment advice.
