Gokhan Ergocun
22 May 2026•Update: 22 May 2026
The New York Stock Exchange closed higher as oil prices and bond yields retreated, amid hopes for a resolution to the conflicts in the Middle Eas.
The Dow, however, rose 0.55%, or 276.31 points, to finish at 50,285.66, hitting a historical high.
The S&P 500 gained 0.17%, or 12.75 points, to close at 7,445.72, while the Nasdaq rose 0.09%, or 22.74 points, to 26,293.10.
The Volatility Index (VIX), often referred to as the market’s “fear index,” fell 3.9% to 16.76.
The futures price of Brent crude oil fell by approximately 1% to $104.30 per barrel as of 2010GMT.
The yield on the 10-year US Treasury note fell to 4.56%, while the yield on the 30-year US Treasury bond dropped to 5.09%.
On the corporate front, despite reporting revenue and profits that exceeded market expectations, Nvidia’s shares fell by approximately 2%.
Shares of US retail giant Walmart, releasing its earnings report on Thursday, also fell by more than 7% after the firm’s full-year revenue forecast fell short of expectations.
Meanwhile, IBM shares rose more than 12% following reports that the US government had allocated a total of $2 billion in grants to nine quantum computing companies, with $1 billion of that amount set to go to IBM.
On the macroeconomic data front, the number of initial jobless claims in the US fell by 3,000 to 209,000 in the week ending May 16, coming in slightly below market expectations.
The US manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose to 55.3 in May—its highest level in 48 months—and exceeded market expectations.
European markets
European stocks saw mostly negative figures, with the pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index was almost flat, up 0.04% to close at 620.56 points.
In national markets, the UK's FTSE 100 was only index posting an increase, up by 0.11% to 10,443.47.
Germany's DAX 40 fell 0.53% to 24,606.77 points, France's CAC 40 dropped 0.39% to 8,086, Italy's FTSE MIB 30 went down 0.03% to 49,168.70, and Spain's IBEX 35 decreased 0.42% to end at 17,975.20.
