A mixed trend on Wall Street, against the background of the tensions in Hormuz; The price of oil is rising

17:00

Trading on Wall Street continues to be conducted in a mixed trend. The Nasdaq index rises by about 0.1%, the S&P 500 trades stable and the Dow Jones weakens by about 0.4%.

Nigel Tapper, a strategist at Bank of America, sees reasons to remain bullish on the future. “The strong global earnings cycle and consistent investment mortality numbers continue to support global equity market returns,” he wrote in a note to clients on Friday.

Chris Snake, chief investment strategist at Wolfe Research, told CNBC that he believes the strong earnings of tech giants delivered by the “Magnificent Seven” will mean that artificial intelligence (AI) will remain the most dominant market theme. “In view of the fact thatThe financial results of the technology giants came in solid and added fuel to the AI ​​issue, we believe that investors are expected to continue chasing those who are perceived as winners in the field of technology, and among others, in the chip and memory sectors,” he said.

On the other hand, some analysts sound harsh warnings. Amrita Sen, founder and director of market intelligence at Energy Aspect, told CNBC that the world’s economies may be “sleepwalking into a potential major recession.” Sen said there is a “fundamentally misplaced euphoria” among many investors, who she believes continue to put aside the ongoing energy crisis and treat it as an issue that mainly affects Asian economies.

She also referred to oil prices and stated that “this was the biggest mystery for us – if anything, we think that oil prices should be higher and that the stock market should be much, much weaker. Just wait for food prices to start going up because of what’s going on; the lack of transportation of urea (fertilizer); and natural gas prices, or reducing the supply of natural gas to the fertilizer sector,” she said.

“It’s just a huge energy crisis. I’m equally astounded at how the stock market completely ignores it and talks about how great the first quarter results are. They’re not going to be nearly as great in the second quarter,” Sen said.

16:35

The trading day on Wall Street opened against the backdrop of growing tensions in the Strait of Hormuz, where the US military began the process of “liberating” ships stuck in the area. The Nasdaq is trading flat, the S&P 500 is down about 0.2% and the industrial-biased Dow Jones is losing about 0.4%.

The indices erased most of the declines recorded earlier today (up to -0.7%), after it was reported in Iran that two missiles were launched at an American ship in Hormuz. The American Central Command denied the report and wrote on the X network that no ship was hit.

16:05

Wall Street is on track to open the day in a mixed trend. For now, Wall Street futures indicate that the Dow Jones will open the day down 0.3%, the S&P 500 will weaken by about 0.2% and the Nasdaq will open flat.

14:10

Gamestop submitted last night (Sun) an offer to purchase the eBay in a deal of about 56 billion dollars in cash and shares. The company’s CEO, Ryan Cohen, even indicated that he is ready to approach the shareholders directly if eBay’s board of directors does not cooperate. If the deal goes through, Cohen plans to head the merged company.

According to the proposal, Gamestop is offering $125 per share, half in cash and half in stock, which reflects a premium of about 20% over eBay’s last closing price. This is a relatively unusual move, especially considering that until a few years ago Gamestop was a relatively marginal stock, which leapt into consciousness during the meme stock frenzy.

eBay’s value is nearly four times its own. Despite this, the company has already built a position of about 5% in eBay through shares and derivatives, according to Cohen. Cohen, who is also Gamestop’s largest shareholder, the connection between the companies can generate significant synergy.

13:30

The Iranian Fars news agency, which is affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards, reported that two missiles hit a US Navy patrol ship near the Strait of Hormuz, and it was forced to retreat. US officials denied the news.

In response to the report, Wall Street futures turned red and recorded a sharp decline downwards. As of now, the Dow Jones is down about 0.5%, the S&P 500 is down about 0.4% and the Nasdaq is down about 0.3%.

Oil prices also jump sharply. Brent oil jumps close to 5% and trades around $114 per barrel, while American oil jumps at a similar rate and trades around $107 per barrel.

10:39

This morning in Europe a mixed trend – the Frankfurt Stock Exchange rises by 0.4%, Paris and London by -.3%.

The contracts in the US are in a positive trend, especially the technology-biased indices, NASDAQ and S&P 500 which are now up by about 0.3%.

08:41

In Asia this morning, the South Korean stock market jumps by about 4% to a record, after their strongest month in April, the Nikkei in Japan rises by 0.4%, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong by 1.5%. There is no trade in China.

The reporting season for the first quarter provides Wall Street with better than expected results, and continues to push the American stock market to record highs. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq climbed last week by about 0.9% and about 1.1%, marking their strongest month since 2020.

As reports near the end for about two-thirds of the companies in the S&P 500 index, the rate of companies missing analysts’ forecasts is at its lowest level since 2021. It’s not just strong results from the technology giants – companies outside of this sector are showing the sharpest positive surprises since the fourth quarter of 2024, according to Seaport Research Partners.

For the investors, this is a signal of confidence in the profitability of the companies in the US, which continues to operate strongly despite shocks such as rising oil prices, tensions around tariffs and concerns about the state of the American consumer.

At the center of the report season this week were the technology giants Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet, Apple and others, which make up about 25% of the index’s market value. Most posted better-than-expected results, but shares of Meta and Microsoft retreated on concerns about the extent of their capital investments.

At the same time, the rally in chip stocks continues. Intel led the gains with a 114% jump in April, after a sales forecast that far exceeded expectations. Texas Instruments also stood out favorably. Philadelphia’s SOX index closed at an all-time high on Friday after rising nearly 50% during an 18-day streak.

The shares of the small companies are also showing a significant recovery. The Russell 2000 is up about 13% since the start of 2026 – well above the roughly 5.6% increase in the S&P 500. According to Keith Lerner of Truist Advisory Services, this is strong earnings momentum that is starting to support riskier stocks, with future earnings forecasts continuing to break records every week.

In the upcoming report board, the results of the major chip manufacturers are expected to provide investors with another indication of trend status. AMD on Tuesday, and Arm Holdings on Wednesday. In addition, Palantir’s reports will also be in focus, alongside the media company Paramount and the Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk, along with a series of other large companies.

in the debt market – In the summary of the last week, the trend of a moderate increase in government bond yields in the USA continued. The ten-year US government bond yield rose last week to a level of 4.37% from a level of 4.30%. The five-year yield rose to 4.018% from 3.91% and the two-year yield rose to 3.88% from 3.77%.

Wednesday is expected to feel like “déjà vu” for bond traders in the US, the market is waiting for a signal from the Treasury regarding a change in the debt issuance policy.

The USA has a huge deficit and currently finances it mainly through short-term debt, but it is clear that at some point it will be necessary to increase medium and long-term bond issuances as well. Therefore, investors are not really looking for a new figure, but rather a change in wording – because even a small correction in the target will be perceived as a signal that the bond supply is about to increase. Such a move would mean an increase in yields, which could put pressure on the stock and other asset markets. In simple words, as long as the treasury postpones the change the market is relatively calm, but as soon as the first hint comes, it can move the markets.

The sensitivity surrounding the wording is so high that Wall Street strategists offer a variety of possible scenarios: J.P. Morgan assesses a significant risk of removing the phrase “at least”, while Barclays predicts that it will remain but the time wording will be changed to “in the coming quarters”.

In the commodity market, after Trump’s announcement this morning, oil prices are down, WTI oil is trading at $101 per barrel, while Brent contracts are at $108.03 per barrel. In addition, the OPEC+ group announced yesterday that it agreed to increase oil output by 188,000 barrels per day, as part of the continued policy of gradually increasing supply. This is the first meeting of the cartel since the withdrawal of one of its main companies, the United Arab Emirates.

The price of gold continued to be under pressure, amid fears of higher inflation, and closed another negative week, with a decrease of about 1.5% to the level of $4,615 per ounce. Gold has traditionally been seen as a hedge against geopolitical uncertainty, but it tends to underperform in high-interest-rate environments as it loses its edge over interest-bearing assets, such as bonds.

Giovanni Stovano, an analyst at UBS, told CNBC that “gold continues to be negatively correlated with oil in the short term, as it affects expectations for interest rate cuts.”

Macro in the US – most of the attention will be directed to the employment report for the month of April which will be published on Friday, when the economists predict a relatively moderate addition of about 60 thousand jobs, this after several extremely volatile months, including a figure of about 178 thousand jobs added in March.