US open: Stocks rise despite renewed ceasefire fears
By Iain Gilbert
Date: Friday 29 May 2026
(Sharecast News) - Major indices were in the green early on Friday as market participants kept a keen eye on the conflict in the Middle East, with the fragile ceasefire between Iran and the US seemingly breaking down.
As of 1500 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.32% at 50,832.31, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.40% to 7,593.71 and the Nasdaq Composite came out of the gate 0.55% firmer at 27,066.29.
The Dow opened 163.34 points higher on Friday, extending modest gains recorded in the previous session after Axios reported that US and Iranian negotiators had agreed to a 60-day memorandum of understanding to extend their ceasefire and open negotiations on Tehran's nuclear ambitions.
Axios added that the deal was still pending Donald Trump's final approval, while a White House official later confirmed that the US and Iran had "mostly agreed" to the terms of an agreement aimed at temporarily halting the war. However, just a few hours later, Iranian state media outlet Fars reported that the nation's armed forces had launched missiles at unidentified targets late on Thursday.
Also drawing an amount of investor attention, Dell Technologies posted its strongest revenue growth since returning to public markets, comfortably beating Wall Street expectations and sending shares as much as 39% higher in extended trading. Adjusted earnings came in at $4.86 per share, well ahead of the $2.94 consensus, while revenue jumped 88% year‑on‑year to $43.84bn, smashing forecasts of $35.43bn, with the surge driven by booming demand for artificial‑intelligence infrastructure, with AI server revenue rising 757% to $16.1bn. Dell now expects full‑year AI revenue of around $60bn, up from previous guidance of $50bn.
On the macro front,US wholesale inventories rose 0.5% month-on-month to $938.6bn in April, according to the Census Bureau, following an upwardly revised 1.5% increase in March, which was the strongest growth since August 2022, but fell just short of expectations for a 0.6% jump. April's increase marked a third consecutive monthly rise in wholesale inventories. Stocks of durable goods rose 0.9%, after March's 0.5% increase, while non-durable stocks decreased by 0.2%, easing from the prior month's 3.2% advance. On an annualised basis, wholesale inventories improved by 3.4%.
On another note, America's goods deficit narrowed to $82.4bn in April, according to preliminary data from the Census Bureau, down from $85.3bn in March. Exports surged 4% to a record $219.7bn, driven by strong sales of capital goods, industrial supplies and consumer goods. However, vehicle and food exports fell by 2.8% and 0.3%, respectively. On the other hand, imports rose 1.9% to $302.1bn, with increases in capital goods and foods being partially offset by declines in industrial supplies, vehicles and consumer goods.
Finally, the Institute for Supply Management's May purchasing managers index increased to 62.70 points in May, up from 49.2 points in April.
No major corporate earnings were slated for release on Friday.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com
Dow Jones - Risers
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $438.62 5.99%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $183.56 4.71%
International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $276.68 4.59%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $125.10 1.74%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $314.31 1.37%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $1,013.91 0.51%
Visa Inc. (V) $326.40 0.46%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $279.48 0.38%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $120.17 0.23%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $48.08 0.21%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $118.61 -1.56%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $46.85 -1.44%
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $34.37 -1.15%
Boeing Co. (BA) $226.98 -0.81%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $144.66 -0.71%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $182.13 -0.48%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $292.73 -0.40%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $103.14 -0.40%
American Express Co. (AXP) $312.89 -0.35%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $80.11 -0.14%
S&P 500 - Risers
NetApp Inc. (NTAP) $182.71 28.91%
Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) $41.71 10.21%
HP Inc (HPQ) $27.00 9.12%
QUALCOMM Inc. (QCOM) $254.43 8.97%
TripAdvisor Inc. (TRIP) $10.93 7.79%
Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $174.60 7.70%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $438.62 5.99%
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $160.41 5.63%
Skyworks Solutions Inc. (SWKS) $82.61 5.40%
DENTSPLY Sirona Inc. (XRAY) $10.36 5.34%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Gap Inc. (GAP) $20.80 -15.88%
Coterra Energy Inc. (CTRA) $32.56 -8.62%
Synopsys Inc. (SNPS) $473.00 -6.27%
Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) $218.02 -6.14%
Clorox Co. (CLX) $91.21 -4.81%
Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) $967.02 -3.14%
Perrigo Company plc (PRGO) $11.15 -2.97%
Rollins Inc. (ROL) $47.80 -2.75%
Kohls Corp. (KSS) $15.34 -2.57%
Capri Holdings Limited (CPRI) $19.18 -2.41%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
QUALCOMM Inc. (QCOM) $254.43 8.97%
Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $174.60 7.70%
Workday, Inc. (WDAY) $132.86 6.97%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $438.62 5.99%
Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $133.83 5.65%
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $160.41 5.63%
Skyworks Solutions Inc. (SWKS) $82.61 5.40%
DENTSPLY Sirona Inc. (XRAY) $10.36 5.34%
Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) $441.24 5.11%
Intuit Inc. (INTU) $315.29 3.98%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Qvc Group Inc Series A (QVCGA) $0.34 -13.49%
Synopsys Inc. (SNPS) $473.00 -6.27%
Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) $218.02 -6.14%
Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) $967.02 -3.14%
T-Mobile Us, Inc. (TMUS) $186.55 -2.21%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $118.61 -1.56%
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $620.70 -1.51%
Alphabet Inc. Class A (GOOGL) $382.93 -1.38%
Alphabet Inc. Class C (GOOG) $379.13 -1.35%
CSX Corp. (CSX) $45.63 -1.07%
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