By Shashwat Chauhan and Medha Singh May 22 Wall Street’s main indexes rose on Friday, with the blue-chip Dow hitting a record high for the first time since the Iran war began, as investors tracked progress in talks to end the nearly three-month-old conflict ahead of the long…
ekend. Iran’s foreign minister met the interior minister of Pakistan to discuss proposals to end the conflict, media reports said, with Tehran and Washington still at odds over Iran’s uranium stockpile and control over the Strait of Hormuz
Global stocks have whipsawed since the conflict began in late February, but hopes of an eventual resolution to the war, optimism in the AI trade and resilient earnings growth have propelled U.S. stocks to record highs this month. “While key differences between the U.S. and Iran still need to be resolved to end the war, the continuation of peace talks remains a supportive factor for investors,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities. UBS Global Wealth Management raised its 2026 year-end target for the S&P 500 to 7,900 from 7,500, citing resilient consumer spending and seemingly insatiable demand for data center infrastructure. The market recovery, however, has faced some hurdles as investors fret about the inflationary impact of surging oil prices, pushing government bond yields higher around the world and hitting risk appetite this week.
Treasury yields slipped on Friday with the 10-year U.S. note yield easing to a one-week low of 4.54%. Later in the day, Kevin Warsh will be sworn in as Federal Reserve leader at the White House, taking over the reins from Jerome Powell, a pivotal moment for monetary policy and the American economy. Volatility eased ahead of the three-day market holiday, with U.S. markets shut on Monday for Memorial Day.