Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index closed slightly higher after ⁠Thursday’s ⁠choppy session as oil prices finished lower and investors hoped ⁠for a Middle East peace deal even as the U.S. and Iran appeared to take directly opposing stances over Tehran’s uranium stockpile ​and control of the Strait of Hormuz. After spending the morning in the red, stocks clawed their way back to gains in afternoon trading while oil prices shifted from a rally to a decline as ‌investors mon

The headquarters in Washington of the internal Revenue Service on Feb. 25, 2025. President Donald Trump, two of his sons and his family business had argued in a lawsuit that the IRS should have done more to prevent a former contractor from leaking tax information. (Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times) By RUSS BUETTNER A tax audit that President Donald Trump has been fighting since his peak earning days as a television celebrity was most likely wiped away in this week’s settlement

Wall Street’s main indexes rallied on Wednesday, rebounding ⁠from ⁠a three-day selloff with a boost from chip stocks, ⁠which rose ahead of Nvidia’s quarterly results. Shares in leading artificial intelligence chipmaker Nvidia, the world’s most valuable company, rose ​1.8% ahead of its quarterly results, due after the closing bell. Investors will crunch the numbers for signs that appetite for AI infrastructure remains strong enough to support lofty valuations across ‌the techn

Elon Musk arrives for the second day of his testimony in his trial against OpenAI at the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Courthouse in Oakland, Calif., April 29, 2026. Musk on Monday, May 18, 2026, lost his lawsuit accusing OpenAI and its chief executive, Sam Altman, of breaching the company’s founding contract. (Jason Henry/The New York Times) By DAVID STREITFELD and NATALLIE ROCHA Elon Musk lost his bid to derail OpenAI. Few will feel sorry for him. Unless you are a corporate chi

Wall Street fell on Tuesday, slammed again by inflation worries that ⁠pushed ⁠long-dated bond yields to the highest since 2007, as investors ⁠dismissed conflicting signals on U.S.-Iran talks and looked ahead to Nvidia’s earnings on Wednesday. In my column today, I also look ahead to ​Nvidia’s results. Another bumper report is expected, but it comes at a potentially critical juncture for the company and wider sector: if the AI juggernaut is to slow down, it could be for the ol

President Donald Trump delivers remarks during the Police Week Rose Garden Dinner Club at The White House in Washington, on May 11, 2026. “I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation,” President Trump said recently when asked if economic pain was motivating him to make a deal with Iran. (Eric Lee/The New York Times) By TONY ROMM and BEN CASSELMAN Swept into power by voters who were frustrated with the nation’s economic trajectory, President Donald Trump promised at his

As the spike in bond yields re-emerges as a ⁠risk ⁠for equities, some corners of the U.S. stock market are ⁠particularly vulnerable. Shares of smaller companies, especially those that are unprofitable or reliant on debt, are in the crosshairs. Economically sensitive sectors such as consumer or ​housing-related companies could falter, while dividend-paying stocks may lose appeal, undercut by more attractive Treasury payouts. Technology, the largest part of the U.S. stock marke

Two themes critical to the U.S. stock market -- the artificial intelligence boom ​and inflation-pressured consumer spending -- will come under the microscope next week with earnings reports from semiconductor giant Nvidia (NVDA.O), and a host of ‌retailers led by Walmart (WMT.O). Stock indexes have charged higher in recent weeks, with the benchmark S&P 500 (.SPX)cand technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC), near record levels. Two factors influencing market action in “almos

President Donald Trump accepts flowers as he arrives at Beijing Capital International Airport in Beijing, China, on Wednesday, May 13, 2026, for a two-day summit with China’s leader, Xi Jinping. From bottom of stairs, up behind Trump: Eric Trump and his wife, Lara Trump; Elon Musk; Secretary of State Marco Rubio; Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth; and Jensen Huang, the chief executive of Nvidia. (Kenny Holston/The New York Times) By ANA SWANSON When President Donald Trump campai

U.S. stocks advanced ⁠on ⁠Thursday, lifted by a rally in tech ⁠stocks as investors absorbed generally solid economic data and watched for developments from Beijing, where U.S. ​President Trump was engaged in a high-stakes meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. All three major U.S. stock indexes gained ground, with the S&P 500 ‌and the Nasdaq setting their latest in ‌a series of record closing highs. “Everybody’s asking the same question: how much longer does this (r