Dow and S&P 500 Close Lower Amid Oil Price Volatility
The Dow and S&P 500 closed lower as traders reacted to volatile oil prices and a key inflation report. Oil prices, which spiked above $100 and briefly approached $120 earlier in the week amid fears of disruptions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, have retreated significantly and are now trading below $90 after a coordinated release of emergency reserves. The International Energy Agency has agreed to release roughly 400M barrels from global strategic stockpiles in an effort to stabilize energy markets following the conflict-driven supply shock.U.S. forces sunk a number of Iranian ships, including 16 minelayers, on Tuesday near the Strait of Hormuz, while the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said that a bulk carrier reported their vessel being hit by an unknown projectile near the Strait and two other incidents were also reported on Wednesday morning. Such developments have reinforced the fragility of global energy supply routes and kept risk sentiment unstable. Additionally, ABC News reported that the FBI said Iran wanted to retaliate against the U.S. by launching drones at the West Coast.Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Trump administration plans to announce new tariff investigations as soon as Wednesday.Get caught up quickly on the top news and calls moving stocks with these five Top Five lists.1. STOCK NEWS:The International Energy Agency members have agreed to releasedue to war in the Middle EastOraclereportedand provided an upbeat outlook for Q4Nvidiain Nebiusas part of a strategic partnershipCampbell'sreportedand cut its FY26 guidanceCintasUniFirstfor $310 per share in cash and stock2. WALL STREET CALLS:Niketo Overweight at Barclays on operational progressJPMorganOracle, sees better risk/reward post selloffOptimum Communicationsto Market Perform at Raymond JamesYextto Neutral at Roth CapitalWells Fargo sees "too much risk,"coverage of Harley-Davidsonwith an Underweight rating3. AROUND THE WEB:McDonald'splans to introduce a lower-priced value menu, WSJ reportsIrth Capital has offered to acquire Papa John'sfor $47 per share, WSJ saysEli Lillyplans to invest $3B in China over the next decade, the drugmaker said in a Chinese-language statement on Wednesday, Reuters saysDue to the ongoing Qatar LNG shutdown, Shellhas declared force majeure on its liquefied natural gas contracts with some of its clients in Asia, Bloomberg saysAMDCEO Lisa Su will meet with SamsungChairman Jay Lee in South Korea to discuss cooperation on securing supplies of high-bandwidth memory to use in AI chipsets, Reuters reports4. MOVERS:Ocugengains after Oppenheimercoverage of the stock with an Outperform ratingCaesars (CZR) rises after the Wall Street Journal reported that Tilman Fertitta is in talks tofor about $7BVelo3Dhigher after CEO Arun Jeldifrom an existing debt holder and converted it into sharesKosmosfalls after announcing aHarmony Goldlower after reporting revenue for the5. EARNINGS/GUIDANCE:Target Hospitality, with EPS and revenue beating consensusBrainswayand provided guidance for FY26Sprinklr, with CEO Rory Read commenting that the fourth quarter "capped a pivotal year in our transformation"Kamadaand reaffirms FY26 guidanceServe Roboticsand provided guidance for FY26INDEXES:The Dow fell 289.24, or 0.61%, to 47,417.27, the Nasdaq rose 19.03, or 0.084%, to 22,716.14, and the S&P 500 declined 5.68, or 0.084%, to 6,775.80.
