Major Averages Rebound as Oil Prices Retreat, Boosting Market Sentiment
The major averages were broadly higher in a reversal of yesterday's losses, with stock futures moving modestly higher as oil prices retreated from recent highs while investors assess the latest developments in the U.S.-Iran conflict and their potential impact on inflation and global growth.Although the U.S. launched another round of strikes against Iran and Tehran retaliated by targeting U.S. military facilities in Bahrain and Kuwait, investors appear encouraged by signs that neither side is seeking a prolonged disruption to energy markets. Oil prices retreated after an early spike, helping improve sentiment across equities and easing some concerns about another inflation shock.Get caught up quickly on the top news and calls moving stocks with these five Top Five lists.1. STOCK NEWS:PepsiCoreportedand reiterated its FY26 EPS outlookLevi Straussprovided areport for Q2Rackspaceannounced anfor AI in production with Palantirand cut its FY26 revenue guidanceMetaintends to put an AI chip into production in September,Meanwhile, Meta is launching developer access to its Muse Spark AI model,2. WALL STREET CALLS:KeyBancSalesforce (CRM) to Sector Weight, with firm saying it isn't seeing AOV growthMattelwasto Sell from Neutral at Goldman SachsAreteParamount Skydanceto Sell, calling the history of media mega-mergers "hardly inspiring"MizuhoFive Belowto Outperform following a 30% retreatToastwasto Buy at Goldman Sachs following underperformance3. AROUND THE WEB:Amazonis advancing its Alexa AI capabilities through Project Moonraker, which aims to enable more complex multistep tasks, though development costs and reliability challenges remain key hurdles as the company expands Alexa+, Business Insider saysThe French competition authority said that its probe into Nvidiais nearing an end, Reuters reportsQiagenis drawing takeover interest from Advent and EQT, Bloomberg reportsSK Hynix'sU.S. listing is over seven times oversubscribed as the South Korean company gets ready to price its offering later this week, Bloomberg saysStarbucksis developing in-house tools with the help of AI that could replace some software applications it now buys from companies such as Microsoftand IBM, Bloomberg reports4. MOVERS:Forte Biosciencesgains after announcing its Phase 1b study ofnLighthigher after beingjoint laser weapon system contractMara Holdingsincreases after announcing it willfrom HIF USAIonislower after AstraZenecareported itsdid not meet its primary efficacy endpointBellRing Brandsfalls after naming Michael5. EARNINGS/GUIDANCE:ASE Technology, with revenue higher year-over-yearSimply Good Foodsand raised its guidance for FY26Honeywellfor FY26 and H2Byrna Technologies, with CEO Conn Davis commenting, "Our second quarter results did not reflect the level of performance we believe Byrna can deliver"AZZand raised its guidance for FY27INDEXES:Near midday, the Dow was up 0.27%, or 143.47, to 52,491.86, the Nasdaq was up 0.81%, or 209.64, to 26,080.30, and the S&P 500 was up 0.58%, or 43.09, to 7,525.80.
