Stock Market News for Aug 5, 2026

U.S. stock markets closed sharply higher on Tuesday buoyed by a gradual decline in crude oil prices for two successive days on positive developments on the Middle East war front. Solid results of artificial intelligence (AI)-led corporate bigwigs also boosted investors’ sentiment. All three major stock indexes ended in positive territory.

How Did the Benchmarks Perform?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) advanced 1.7% or 907.47 points to close at 54,085.88, marking a new all-time closing high. Notably, 26 components of the 30-stock index ended in positive territory and four ended in negative territory. During intraday trade, the blue-chip index posted a new all-time high of 54,272.60. 

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite finished at 26,584.99, climbing 2.6% or 671.10 points on strong performance by AI giants. The S&P 500 appreciated 1.8% or 136.02 points to finish at 7,736.52, reflecting a new all-time closing high. During intraday trade, the broad-market index recorded a new all-time high of 7,758.21. 

Eight out of 11 sectors of the broad-market index ended in positive territory while three finished in negative territory. The Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR (XLY), the Communication Services Select Sector SPDR (XLC) and the Industrials Select Sector SPDR (XLI) gained 1.8%, 2.9% and 1.9%, respectively. On the other hand, the Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE) slid 1.3%.

The fear gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) rose 4% to 16.50. A total of 18.89 billion shares were traded on Tuesday, higher than the last 20-session average of 17.33 billion. Advancers outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by a 2.84-to-1 ratio. On the Nasdaq, a 2.89-to-1 ratio favored advancing issues.

Decline in Crude Oil Prices

On Aug. 4, in an interview with CNBC, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said “we are in talks with the Iranians.” Bessent added, “There is a chance we may have a deal today or tomorrow to open the Strait and move towards a more normalized position in this conflict.”

On Aug. 2, President Donald Trump announced the cancellation of a planned attack on Iran due to some positive developments. The President said in his Truth Social post, “We have just been asked by Iran, and other Middle Eastern Countries, to hold off any attack in that the perimeters of a deal has been agreed to.”

Following these developments, crude oil prices declined. The U.S. benchmark — West Texas Intermediate — futures settled down 5.7% at $75.77 per barrel. The international benchmark — the Brent — dropped 5.3% to settle at $79.36 per barrel.

Solid Earnings for AI-Driven Bigwigs

Palantir Technologies Inc. PLTR came up with quarterly adjusted earnings of $0.41 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.35 per share. Revenues of $1.94 billion, surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 7.2%.

Caterpillar Inc. CAT came up with quarterly adjusted earnings of $8.17 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $6.25 per share. Revenues of $20.54 billion, surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 6.4%.

Consequently, the stock price of Palantir soared 29.5%. Caterpillar also surged 5.6%. Palantir currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Economic Data

Trade deficit in goods and services came in at $73.3 billion in June, above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $72.8 billion. The metric for May was $77.6 billion. June exports were $314.7 billion and imports were $388 billion.

Factory orders (for manufactured durable and non-durable goods) for June fell 0.3%, in contrast to the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a rise of 0.3%. The metric for May was revised upward to a decline of 1.1% from a decline of 1.3% reported earlier. New orders for manufactured durable goods in June were up 0.5% to $335.4 billion. New orders for manufactured non-durable goods in June fell 1.2% to $321.1 billion. 

The Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in its Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) that job openings decreased by 178,000 to 7.359 million as of June 30. The job openings rate fell to 4.4% in June from 4.5% in May. Hiring rose by 96,000 to 5.348 million in June. The hires rate rose to 3.4% from 3.3% in May. Layoffs  and discharges remained almost the same at 1.1% to 1.766 million. 

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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