Apple leads Wall Street to more records as oil prices pull back
[May 02, 2026] By
STAN CHOE
NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. stock market set more records Friday after
Apple, Estee Lauder and others joined the list of companies delivering
fatter profits for the start of the year than analysts expected. Easing
oil prices also helped steady the stock markets around the world that
were still open on the May Day holiday.
The S&P 500 climbed 0.3% to its latest all-time high and closed out a
fifth straight winning week. That’s its longest such streak since 2024.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 152 points, or 0.3%, and the
Nasdaq composite added 0.9% to its own record.
Apple led the way after the iPhone seller reported stronger profit and
revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Because it’s one
of Wall Street’s biggest stocks in terms of overall size, Apple’s rally
of 3.3% was by far the strongest force lifting the S&P 500.
Stock prices generally follow the path of corporate profits over the
long term, and U.S. companies have been blowing past expectations for
earnings in the first three months of 2026. That’s even with the war
with Iran and high oil prices souring confidence for many U.S.
households.
A little more than a quarter of the companies in the S&P 500 have
reported already, and 84% of them have topped analysts’ estimates,
according to FactSet. The index is on track to deliver roughly 15%
growth in profit from a year earlier.
Estee Lauder’s stock climbed 3.4% after reporting better earnings than
expected, thanks in part to strength in China, and it raised some of its
upcoming financial forecasts. Sandisk jumped 8.3% after the maker of
storage for computers blew past analysts’ expectations for profit thanks
in part to voracious demand from data centers.
Colgate-Palmolive added 2.2% after likewise delivering bigger results
than expected, though CEO Noel Wallace said it expects “volatile
macroeconomic conditions and slower category growth to continue in
2026.”
The main uncertainty for the global economy is where oil prices are
heading because of the Iran war. Oil prices spurted higher early this
week on worries that the war will keep the Strait of Hormuz closed for a
long time. That would in turn keep oil tankers pent up in the Persian
Gulf instead of delivering crude to customers worldwide.
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Trader Derek Orth works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange,
Thursday, April 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
 But such moves have been quick to
reverse throughout the war, as hopes rise and fall for a reopening
of the strait. On Friday, the price for a barrel of Brent crude, the
international standard, fell 2% to settle at $108.17. Brent was
selling for a little more than $70 per barrel before the war began.
That rise since the end of February helped the two biggest U.S. oil
companies report stronger profit for the latest quarter than
analysts expected. But stock prices nevertheless fell for both Exxon
Mobil, 1%, and Chevron, 1.4%, as oil prices regressed Friday and
each reported drops in net income from a year earlier.
All told, the S&P 500 rose 21.11 points to 7,230.12. The Dow Jones
Industrial Average dipped 152.87 to 49,499.27, and the Nasdaq
composite climbed 222.13 to 25,114.44.
The fall in oil prices helped Treasury yields ease in the bond
market. So did a report in the morning that said growth for U.S.
manufacturing was a touch softer last month than economists
expected.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.38% from 4.40% late
Thursday. Such dips can make mortgages and other loans for U.S.
households and businesses cheaper, and they also tend to give upward
pushes to prices for stocks and all kinds of other investments.
Many stock markets worldwide were closed for May Day. Among the
indexes still trading, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.4%, and London’s
FTSE 100 slipped 0.1%.
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AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed to
this report.
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