S&P 500 pulls back from record as oil prices gain momentum: Live updates

The S&P 500 fell on Thursday after hitting a new all-time intraday high as oil prices came back from sizable losses earlier in the session, with traders eyeing more developments between the U.S. and Iran.

The broad market index was last down 0.3%, while the Nasdaq Composite hovered around the flatline. The tech-heavy index had also scored a fresh all-time high during the session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 260 points, or 0.5%.

Oil prices bounced back after trading meaningfully below $100. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures was last marginally higher to trade above $95 per barrel, while international Brent crude futures slipped slightly to above $100 a barrel.

Stocks posted strong gains in the previous session, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq posting record highs. The Dow also popped more than 600 points.

On Wednesday, stocks moved higher and oil prices cooled after Axios reported, citing sources, that the U.S. and Iran are nearing a deal to end the war. Specifically, two U.S. officials and two other sources briefed on the issue told the outlet that the White House believes it is nearing a one-page, 14-point memorandum of understanding to not only end the war, but also establish a framework for more detailed nuclear talks.

An Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson said to CNBC on Wednesday that Iran was evaluating a U.S. proposal for a resolution.

Outside of these hopes for easing Middle East tensions, a "blowout" earnings season has also boosted stocks, along with "just an insatiable demand and momentum behind the AI trade," according to Ross Mayfield, Baird investment strategist.

"We pretty quickly shifted from, 'Everyone is bearish,' to, 'Boy oh boy, everyone is bullish again,'" he said. "The market is probably overbought here heading into a weaker seasonal period, but those are minor nitpicks rather than true bumps in the road. You kind of are set up for a melt-up scenario here, barring something out of left field."

Fortinet was among the key winners of the day, popping 22% after the company lifted its full-year billings guidance. Meanwhile, Peloton shares jumped 5% after its third-quarter revenue surpassed expectations.

Short-term inflation expectations nudged higher in April as consumers continued to feel the bite of higher energy prices, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported Thursday.

The central bank's monthly Survey of Consumer Expectations showed respondents see the inflation rate at 3.6% one year from now, up 0.2 percentage point from March but even with where they were a year ago. Expectations at the three- and five-year horizons were unchanged at 3.1% and 3%.

At the same time, the outlook for gas price increases plunged by 4.3 percentage points to 5.1%. Food prices were seen as 5.2% higher, down from 6%.

Apple on Thursday touched an all-time intraday high of $290.33, finally eclipsing the prior high of $288.62 dating from Dec. 3, 2025.

On Wednesday, Apple ended the day at $287.51, which was its first new closing high since it finished at $286.19 on Dec. 2, 2025.

Apple's 14-day relative strength index (RSI) stands at roughly 71.8 early Thursday, according to FactSet data, with any reading above 70 commonly interpreted as meaning a stock is overbought. The 50-day RSI is at 59.5 and the 200-day at 53.6.

Apple has outperformed the market over the past month, 14.8% vs. 11.6% for the S&P 500, and the past year, up 48.3% against 31.1%, but is lagging the S&P 500 over the past three- and six months.

— Scott Schnipper

Data center demand amid the artificial intelligence buildout is set to lead to tailwinds for Prologis, according to BMO Capital Markets.

The bank upgraded the real estate company to outperform from market perform, and hiked its price target to $162. That implies a 13% gain from Wednesday's close. Analyst John Kim said that bullishness comes from the role Prologis will play in data center development.

"PLD has considerable ability to benefit from data center demand, both as a DC developer (3.7GW leaseable secured/late-stage) and industrial landlord, with data center suppliers representing 10% of PLD's new leasing and the largest segment of the flourishing manufacturing leasing market in 1Q26," Kim wrote in a Thursday note.

He added that Prologis' largest market, Los Angeles, is seeing its demand for industrial space rebound. Kim also said accelerating earnings growth and increasing institutional demand for warehouses should boost shares higher.

— Davis Giangiulio

Paul Tudor Jones said the artificial intelligence-fueled bull market still has "another year or two" to run as he looked for parallels to earlier tech booms.

The billionaire hedge fund manager said recent advances in AI resemble the emergence of transformative technologies such as Microsoft's early software dominance in the 1980s and the commercialization of the internet in the mid-1990s, periods that ushered in years of productivity gains and market upside.

While AI development is in early stages, Jones said in terms of the bull market, this continues to feel like the 1999 period, about a year before dot-com share prices peaked in early 2000. When it does end, Jones said the market drawdown could be significant.

"Just imagine the stock market went up another 40%. The stock market GDP is gonna probably be good lord 300%, 350%. You just know that there'll be some ... breathtaking kind of corrections," he said.

The three leading U.S. indexes started Thursday's regular trading session off in the green.

The S&P 500 added 0.1%, along with the Nasdaq Composite. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 174 points, or 0.4%.

Initial jobless claims rose less than expected last week while productivity and unit labor costs came in beneath estimates, according to economic data released Thursday:

Peloton posted fiscal third-quarter earnings results Thursday that beat Wall Street expectations on revenue but fell slightly short on earnings per share.

The company touted better-than-expected equipment sales and subscription revenue as helping to drive its sales and profitability, with free cash flow up nearly 60%.

"The first order of business in earnings is reporting how you did financially, and we feel like that was a pretty good quarter in terms of where we are strategically," CEO Peter Stern told CNBC.

Read the full story here.

Check out the companies making the biggest moves in premarket trading:

Layoff announcements rose in April, spurred by a artificial intelligence-related cuts, Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported Thursday.

Job cuts totaled 83,387 for the month, a monthly increase of 38% though down 21% from the same month a year ago. Planned layoffs are down 50% year to date from the same period in 2025.

Of those reductions, 33,361 came from technology. AI accounted for 26% of the total cuts, making it the second month in a row as the leader.

Hiring plans totaled 10,049, down 69% from March and 38% from April 2025.

McDonald's shares were up 3% after the fast food giant posted Q1 results that beat the Street. The company earned an adjusted $2.83 per share on revenue of $6.52 billion. Analysts polled by LSEG expected McDonald's to report earnings of $2.74 per share on revenue of $6.47 billion.

Japan stocks rose more than 5% on Thursday, with the benchmark Nikkei 225 hitting 62,000 for the first time as Asia-Pacific markets rallied despite renewed tensions in the Middle East.

The Nikkei 225 advanced over 5% to end the trading day at 62,833.84, led by gains in basic materials, technology and financial stocks. Shares of index heavyweight Softbank surged more than 18%.

Electronics company Ibiden was the top performer, climbing over 22%. Semiconductor company Sumco Corp surged 19.74%, while manufacturing and metals company Mitsui Kinzoku gained 19%.

The Topix also advanced 3% to close at 3,840.49. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.96% to 8,878.1.

South Korea's Kospi jumped 1.43% to 7,490.05 while the small-cap Kosdaq Index slid 0.91% to 1,199.18. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index jumped 1.57% while mainland China's CSI 300 edged 0.48% higher to 4,900.51.

Japan stocks rose more than 5% on Thursday, with the benchmark Nikkei 225 hitting 62,000 for the first time as Asia-Pacific markets rallied despite renewed tensions in the Middle East.

The broader regional advance came after President Donald Trump warned Iran would be bombed "at a much higher level" if it failed to agree to a peace deal.

The Nikkei 225 advanced 5%, led by gains in basic materials, technology and financial stocks. Shares of index heavyweight Softbank surged more than 13%.

The Topix also advanced 2.37%. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.9%.

South Korea's Kospi reversed gains, falling 0.68%, while the small-cap Kosdaq Index slid 0.56%. Hong Kong Hang Seng index jumped 1.47% while mainland China's CSI 300 edged 0.38% higher.

On Wednesday, nine of the 11 GICS sectors ended the day higher than where they began.

Gains were led by the industrials sector, which added 2.60%. Both the information technology and communication services sectors also gained more than 2%.

On the other hand, the only two sectors to fall in Wednesday were energy and utilities. The groups respectively lost 4.07% and 1.45%.

These are the stocks moving the most in extended-hours trading:

Read the full list of stocks moving here.

Stock futures tied to all three major averages were trading near flat shortly after 6 p.m. ET on Wednesday night.

Futures tied to the S&P 500 slipped 0.1%, while those tied to the Nasdaq 100 shed 0.1%. Dow futures were trading marginally lower.