S&P 500 Hits Record Highs, Palantir Jumps 27%: Stock Market Today

U.S. equities powered to fresh record highs by midday Tuesday as blowout guidance from Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: PLTR ) and a Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT ) earnings beat reignited the AI trade, while crude oil tumbled more than 5% on growing conviction that a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz is days away.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC that “we may have an Iran deal tomorrow to open Hormuz.” • Palantir Technologies stock is among today’s top performers.

Why are PLTR shares rallying? The S&P 500 rose 1.4% to 7,707.81, a record, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 870 points, or 1.6%, to 54,048.41, also an all-time high.

The Nasdaq 100 outpaced the tape with a 2.5% jump to 29,502.39.

The Russell 2000 climbed 1.5% to 3,027.36.

West Texas Intermediate crude sank 5.3% to $76.06 a barrel, while Brent slid 5.2% to $79.42.

Rate traders trimmed hawkish bets accordingly.

The implied probability of a 25-basis-point Federal Reserve rate hike in September dropped to roughly 57% from about 65% a session earlier, with softer domestic data reinforcing the move: June job openings fell to 7.36 million against a 7.45 million forecast, factory orders unexpectedly declined 0.3% for a second straight month, and the trade deficit narrowed to $73.3 billion.

The retreat in energy costs rippled straight into rates.

The 10-year Treasury yield eased five basis points to 4.63%, pulling back from Monday’s 18-month high of 4.75%.

The 2-year fell five basis points to 4.20% and the 30-year slipped four basis points to 5.19%.

Tuesday’s Performance In Major U.S.

Indices Index Last % Change S&P 500 7,707.81 +1.4% Dow Jones 54,048.41 +1.6% Nasdaq 100 29,502.39 +2.5% Russell 2000 3,027.36 +1.5% Updated by 12:20 PM ET According to the Pro platform: The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE: IWM ) advanced 1.5%.

The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSE: VOO ) gained 1.4%.

The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (NYSE: DIA ) rose 1.6%.

The Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ: QQQ ) climbed 2.7%.

Chips Rip While The AI Power Trade Cracks The Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE: XLK ) was the runaway leader, up 4.4%, with the Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE: XLB ) adding 1.4% and the Industrials Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE: XLI ) rising 1.2%.

The Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE: XLF ) gained 0.9%.

At the other end, the Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE: XLU ) and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE: XLE ) each fell 0.9%, the only two sectors down for the session.

At the industry level, the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ: SMH ) surged 4.9% and the SPDR S&P Metals & Mining ETF (NYSE: XME ) rose 4%, while the iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (BATS: IGV ) climbed 3.9%.

The clear loser was the SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (NYSE: XOP ), down 1.7%.

The semiconductor complex was carried by an optical and memory melt-up.

Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU ) jumped 7.8%, Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ: AVGO ) rose 6.2%, Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC ) added 9.6% and Marvell Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MRVL ) gained 12.2%.

Leading the Russell 1000, Wayfair Inc. (NYSE: W ) exploded 30.4% higher after second-quarter revenue of $3.52 billion beat the $3.47 billion consensus, adjusted EPS of 95 cents topped the 89-cent estimate.

U.S. revenue grew 8.7% and the company had its strongest domestic growth since 2020.

Free cash flow of $301 million was also the best since the COVID-19 pandemic era.

Palantir soared 27.4% after Monday’s post-close print showed revenue up 93% to $1.94 billion and U.S. commercial revenue up 149%, alongside the company’s largest-ever guidance raise, lifting full-year revenue guidance by roughly $498 million to about $8.15 billion.

Zebra Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ: ZBRA ) rallied 22% on a strong beat: revenue of $1.56 billion versus $1.50 billion expected, adjusted EPS of $6.35, some 45% above consensus, and third-quarter revenue guidance of $1.56 billion at the midpoint, 4.1% ahead of the Street.

Applied Optoelectronics Inc. (NASDAQ: AAOI ) extended Monday’s move with a 20.1% gain.

The company will report on Thursday.

Gartner Inc. (NYSE: IT ) rounded out the top five with a 16.7% jump after adjusted EPS of $4.37 came in 17.1% above consensus on flat revenue of $1.68 billion.

Contract value rose 1.7% to $5.3 billion, and management raised full-year adjusted EBITDA, EPS and free cash flow guidance.

Elsewhere in the earnings tape, W.W.

Grainger Inc. (NYSE: GWW ) fell 5.8% even after posting EPS of $12.01 against $11.23 expected, Cummins Inc. (NYSE: CMI ) lost 3.5% on EPS of $6.73 versus $7.26 expected, and TransDigm Group Inc. (NYSE: TDG ) slipped 4% despite EPS of $10.87 topping estimates.

Energy producers followed crude lower, with Diamondback Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: FANG ) down 3.8%.

On the downside, Bruker Corp. (NASDAQ: BRKR ) plunged 18.1% in a classic mixed print.