On Thursday, oil prices fluctuated and reached their highest points since the start of the war with Iran, but the increases soon faded. In the meantime, the US stock market is soaring after major corporations like Alphabet released impressive profit reports. Despite extremely high oil prices and economic instability, firms continue to post larger earnings for the beginning of 2026 than analysts anticipated, and the S&P 500 climbed 0.4% and is slightly behind its all-time high hit earlier this week. As of 11:30 a.m. Eastern time, the Nasdaq composite was up 0.2% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 632 points, or 1.3%.
Alphabet, the parent company of Google and YouTube, led the way and saw a 7.3% increase after reporting a profit for the most recent quarter that nearly quadrupled analysts’ projections. According to CEO Sundar Pichai, artificial intelligence investments “are lighting up every part of the business.” Wall Street’s stability came after the oil market’s wild fluctuations, where prices spiked overnight due to concerns that the war in Iran will have a long-term impact on the flow of crude. While a US Navy blockade is prohibiting Iran from exporting its own oil, Iran has closed the Strait of Hormuz to oil tankers, keeping them trapped in the Persian Gulf and away from consumers globally.
For several months, traders are constantly buying and selling contracts for various types of oil. The price of Brent crude for delivery in July reached $114.70 per barrel overnight in the most actively traded segment of the market. After that, it dropped back around $107 and is currently down 0.6% at $109.82. The most actively traded Brent contract so far in the conflict has peaked at $119.50 last month. The price of a barrel to be delivered in June temporarily surpassed $126 overnight in a less traded area of the Brent market before dropping toward $114. The price of Brent is still significantly higher than it was prior to the war, at about $70. However, Wall Street remained solid near its records thanks to the morning’s softening and the ongoing barrage of better-than-expected profit reports from US firms.
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