ASX set to slip, Wall Street sets more records
Stan Choe
The US stock market broke more records after Apple, Estee Lauder and others joined the list of companies making more profits than analysts expected at the start of the year. The drop in oil prices also helped stabilize stock markets around the world, which were still open on the May 1 holiday.
The S&P 500 index rose 0.3 percent to its all-time high and closed with a gain for the fifth consecutive week. This is the longest streak since 2024. The Dow Jones fell 152 points (0.3 percent) and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.9 percent to its own record.
The Australian stock market is poised for a pullback on Saturday, with futures pointing to a 23-point, or 0.3 percent, decline at the open. The Australian dollar was trading at 71.99¢ at 5.15am AEST. On the agenda of investors this week will be the interest rate decision of the Central Bank on Tuesday afternoon.
Apple led the way on Wall Street after the iPhone vendor reported stronger profits and revenue than analysts expected in its latest quarter. Apple’s 3.3 percent rally has been by far the strongest force lifting the S&P 500, as it is one of Wall Street’s largest stocks in terms of total size.
Stock prices generally follow the path of corporate profits over the long term, with U.S. companies beating earnings expectations in the first three months of 2026. This is true even as the war with Iran and high oil prices have damaged the confidence of many US households.
Just over a quarter of the companies in the S&P 500 have already reported, and 84 percent of them beat analysts’ estimates, according to FactSet. The index is on track to increase profits by approximately 15 percent compared to the previous year.
Shares of Estee Lauder rose 3.4 percent after reporting better-than-expected earnings, thanks in part to strength in China, and it upgraded some of its future financial forecasts. Sandisk rose 8.3 percent after the maker of storage for computers beat analysts’ profit expectations, thanks in part to voracious demand from data centers.
Colgate-Palmolive similarly rose 2.2 percent after delivering bigger-than-expected results, but CEO Noel Wallace said he expected “volatile macroeconomic conditions and slower category growth to continue into 2026.”
The main uncertainty for the global economy is where oil prices are heading due to the Iran war. Oil prices rose earlier this week on concerns that the war would keep the Strait of Hormuz closed for a long time. This will leave oil tankers stuck in the Persian Gulf instead of delivering crude oil to customers around the world.
But such moves were quickly reversed throughout the war, as hopes for reopening the strait waxed and waned. On Friday, the price of a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, fell 2 percent to $108.17. Brent was selling for just over $70 per barrel before the war began.
That increase since the end of February helped the two largest U.S. oil companies post stronger profits than analysts expected in the latest quarter. But stock prices still fell 1 percent at both Exxon Mobil and 1.4 percent at Chevron as oil prices fell on Friday and both reported a decline in net income from a year earlier.
Overall, the S&P 500 rose 21.11 points to 7,230.12 points. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 152.87 to 49,499.27, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 222.13 to 25,114.44.
The decline in oil prices helped loosen Treasury yields in the bond market. A report published this morning also stated that growth in the US manufacturing industry was slightly softer than economists expected last month.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 4.38 percent from 4.40 percent at the end of Thursday. Such declines could make mortgages and other loans cheaper for U.S. households and businesses, and could also push up the prices of stocks and all kinds of other investments.
Many stock markets around the world were closed for May 1. Among currently traded indices, the Tokyo Nikkei 225 rose 0.4 percent while the London FTSE 100 fell 0.1 percent.
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