Stocks Plunge, Oil Prices Surge as Iran-Israel Conflict Roils Global Markets; Dow Drops More Than 700 Points

Biggest S&P 500 Movers on Friday

1 hr 41 min ago

Decliners

Shares of payment processors moved lower after a report in The Wall Street Journal indicated that Walmart (WMT) and Amazon (AMZN) are considering issuing their own stablecoins, a move that could help the retail giants sidestep the interchange fees charged by credit-card providers. Shares of business payment solutions provider Corpay (CPAY) dropped 7.7%, falling the most of any S&P 500 stock, while shares of PayPal (PYPL), Visa (V), and Mastercard (MA) also declined.
Analysts at Citi downgraded Sherwin-Williams (SHW) stock to “neutral” from “buy,” indicating that the persistence of high mortgage rates and softness in the housing market could weigh on the paint distributor’s performance in the near term. Sherwin-Williams shares slipped 5.7%.
Shares of Adobe (ADBE) were down 5.3%. Although the provider of software for creating and editing digital media posted better-than-expected sales and profits for its fiscal second quarter, several analysts raised concerns about Adobe’s progress with its artificial intelligence products, pointing to potential competitive pressure and disruption in the AI space.

Advancers

Oracle (ORCL) shares surged 7.7% on Friday, securing the S&P 500’s top performance for a second straight day and extending an all-time high posted in the prior session. The march higher for the stock came after the enterprise software giant exceeded sales and profit estimates for its fiscal fourth quarter and guided for revenue growth driven by its booming cloud infrastructure business.
Shares of companies with exposure to biofuel production gained ground after the Trump administration proposed to increase the amount of biofuel that oil refiners must blend into diesel and gasoline over the next two years. Shares of fertilizer maker CF Industries Holdings (CF), which is engaged in projects aimed at reducing the carbon footprint of biofuel production, gained 6.5%. Shares of grain processors Bunge Global (BG) and Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM) were up 5.7% and 4.7%, respectively.
Crude oil futures prices jumped as concerns spread about possible supply impacts from the escalating conflict in the Middle East, even as Iranian officials said the country’s oil storage and refining facilities remain operational following Israel’s strikes. The rising price of the commodity helped lift oil and gas stocks. Shares of oil services company Haliburton (HAL) gained 5.5%, while shares of exploration and production firm APA Corp. (APA) were up 5.3%.

-Michael Bromberg

What to Expect from Next Week’s Fed Meeting

1 hr 57 min ago

The Federal Reserve is widely expected to keep its benchmark interest rate flat when the central bank’s policy committee meets Wednesday.

The Fed has kept interest rates higher than usual all year to counteract inflation, and hasn’t lowered them out of concern tariffs could push up prices for consumers.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized Fed Chair Jerome Powell for not cutting rates, and could renew that pressure if the Fed keeps rates flat as expected.

Read the full preview of the FOMC meeting here.

-Diccon Hyatt

Major Indexes Post Losses for the Week

3 hr 8 min ago

Major U.S. stock indexes were on track to post weekly gains for the third consecutive week before Friday’s sell-off.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.3% this week, while the S&P 500 slipped 0.4% and the Nasdaq Composite shed 0.6%.

With this week’s decline, the Dow has slipped back into negative territory for 2025, down 0.8%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq are up 1.6% and 0.5%, respectively, year-to-date.

Oklo Levels to Watch After Bumpy Week for Nuclear Stock

3 hr 40 min ago

Oklo (OKLO) shares fell slightly on Friday after whipsawing the previous two sessions.

The stock dropped 5% on Thursday after the nuclear power company announced a public offering of $400 million in common stock. The news partially offset the investor optimism sparked when the company said Wednesday it had landed a “mission-critical” contract to provide nuclear energy to the Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska, news that sent the stock up nearly 30% that day.

The stock has tripled in value since the start of 2025, fueled recently by President Donald Trump signing new executive orders aimed at boosting the nuclear energy industry. Stocks in the nuclear energy sector  have risen over the last year due to the anticipation of growing energy needs to run data centers and train artificial intelligence models.

Since bottoming out around the 200-day moving average (MA) in early April, Oklo shares have resumed their longer-term uptrend. More recently, the stock consolidated in a bullish flag before breaking out above the pattern during Wednesday’s trading session. Importantly, the buying occurred on above-average volume, indicating that larger investors participated in the move higher.

It’s worth noting that, while the relative strength index confirms strong price momentum, the indicator has moved into territory that has coincided with brief consolidation periods in the stock over the past eight months.

Bars pattern analysis forecasts a bullish price target of around $135 and indicates the trend may last throughout most of June. Investors should watch key support levels on Oklo’s chart around $55 and $32.

Oklo shares fell 1.2% Friday to close the week at $63.68.

Read the full technical analysis piece here.

-Timothy Smith

What Israel-Iran Fighting Could Mean for Oil Prices, Inflation

4 hr 47 min ago

Oil prices soared on Friday as tensions in the Middle East flared following Israel’s attack on Iranian military and nuclear targets and Iran’s response.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures, the U.S. benchmark, were up nearly 9% in recent trading Friday at around $74 per barrel, after soaring as much as 14% overnight, crude’s biggest intraday jump in years. Brent crude futures, the global benchmark, were more than 8% higher at $75.

Analysts at JPMorgan warned earlier this week that an all-out conflict between Israel and Iran, one of the world’s largest oil producers, could send oil prices above $100 for the first time since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine disrupted global supply in 2022. That, in turn, might aggravate inflation at a time when economists are already watching for a tariff-driven resurgence. Ryan Sweet, chief U.S. economist at Oxford Economics, estimates every $10 increase in oil prices would translate into a half-percentage-point increase in the inflation rate, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

Low oil prices have been instrumental in keeping inflation in check this year. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 2.4% year-over-year in May. Inflation would have run further above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target if gas prices hadn’t fallen 12% over the last year. JPMorgan estimates that oil prices at $120 a barrel could push CPI up to 5%.

However, most analysts say the worst-case scenario is unlikely. “The primary market concern lies with Iran potentially closing the Strait of Hormuz,” through which about one-fifth of the world’s oil supply transits, said Kristian Kerr, Head of Macro Strategy at LPL Financial. “We think this is unlikely for now given Iran’s need to maintain oil sales to China,” Kerr added. 

There is also the risk that either Israel or Iran targets regional oil infrastructure to escalate the conflict. That would have a meaningful impact on global oil supply and, thus, gas prices. 

Barring such an escalation, experts predict oil prices will settle after Friday’s surge. Goldman Sachs analysts on Friday acknowledged that the conflict would boost oil’s risk premium in the near term, but maintained their prediction that WTI will trade around $55 a barrel at the end of the year.

-Colin Laidley

Adobe Drops as Investors Look for More Signs of AI Success

6 hr 15 min ago

Adobe (ADBE) shares slumped Friday, as the design software developer failed to impress with its quarterly results, despite topping Wall Street estimates and boosting its full-year outlook. 

The stock led S&P 500 decliners by sinking 5% in recent trading to roughly $392, leaving shares down 12% for 2025. 

“The key investor question remains when (if) AI innovation can move the needle,” wrote Morgan Stanley analysts, who added the quarter “brought little to quell the bear concern around AI contribution being unable to reaccelerate growth while bulls must remain patient for encouraging AI metrics to move the needle.”

Still, the analysts said they are “overweight” on the stock with a $510 target, expecting Adobe AI monetization to ramp up in the next fiscal year. 

Jefferies analysts, who reiterated a “buy” rating and $590 price target on Adobe’s potential growth driven by its AI offerings, echoed the comments, writing that while the firm’s earnings showed some AI progress, it was “maybe not enough to appease bears.”

Jefferies also noted that Adobe’s forecast, while higher, would imply a slowdown in growth in the fiscal fourth quarter, though they added they believe it “reflects management’s conservatism amid ongoing macro uncertainties.”

Bank of America, which raised its target to $475 from $424 on Adobe’s outlook and AI growth potential, said the company demonstrated “solid execution in a weaker software backdrop,” calling it a “break from this reporting season, with most software companies opting not to flow through upside to the full year.”

Citi analysts, however, were less convinced, citing worries growing competition and AI disruption could hold Adobe back. Citi issued a “neutral” rating for the stock and $465 target. 

-Kara Greenberg

Brazilian Meatpacking Giant JBS Rises in NYSE Debut

7 hr 14 min ago

Shares of JBS advanced Friday in their New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) debut after years of complications for the Brazilian meatpacking giant to trade in U.S. public markets.

JBS shares, which have the ticker symbol “JBS,” opened at $13.65 on the New York Stock Exchange and recently were trading at $14, up 2.5%. The shares are dual listed with Brazil’s B3 exchange.

JBS, which is majority owner of U.S. poultry firm Pilgrim’s Pride (PPC), is the world’s largest meatpacker, with 2024 revenue of $77.18 billion and net income of $1.96 billion, according to a prospectus filed in April with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Both American meat producers and environmentalists had opposed JBS’ attempts to list in the country “because of concerns about corruption settlements, accusations of Amazon deforestation and its growing market share in the United States,” The New York Times reported last year.

However, CNBC reported that after President Donald Trump was re-elected last November, Pilgrim’s Pride donated $5 million to his inauguration committee, and the SEC subsequently approved its request to list on the NYSE.

-Aaron Rennie

Why Walmart, Amazon Are Considering Their Own Stablecoins

8 hr 38 min ago

Walmart (WMT) and Amazon (AMZN) are reportedly exploring corporate  stablecoins  as a customer payment option. The move toward issuing their own cryptocurrencies could potentially reduce the billions of dollars the retail titans pay in credit transaction fees.  

Stablecoins are a type of cryptocurrency directly pegged to another commodity, often the U.S. dollar. This is meant to prevent the swings associated with crypto assets like Bitcoin. 

If a retailer such as Amazon launched its own stablecoin or accepted existing ones at checkout, it could operate a payments system removed from traditional banks and credit card providers. That would potentially save billions of dollars in fees, including interchange fees paid to Visa (V) and Mastercard (MA), The Wall Street Journal  reported. Amazon and Walmart have both explored this option, as have Expedia (EXPE) and other companies including airlines, the report said. 

However, companies looking to issue stablecoins will need a little help from the government. The Senate is considering a bill known as the Genius Act, which would establish a framework for private companies to issue stablecoins. The proposal passed an initial procedural vote this week but would require a full floor vote in both chambers of Congress.

Walmart and Amazon did not immediately respond to Investopedia requests for comment.

-Andrew Kessel

The U.S. Dollar Hit a Three-Year Low This Week

9 hr 42 min ago

The U.S. dollar slid to its lowest level since March 2022 on Thursday, putting the benchmark dollar index on track to post its worst first half since that year.

The dollar’s steep decline has led some market watchers to speculate that the greenback is losing its role as the global reserve currency and backbone of global finance.

However, analysts see evidence that dollar demand remains strong, and argue true global “de-dollarization” would require an unlikely shrinking of government or private balance sheets.

Read the full article here.

-Colin Laidley

RH Stock Soars on Surprise Profit

10 hr 25 min ago

Shares of RH (RH) soared in early trading Friday, a day after the high-end home furnishings retailer posted a surprise profit and announced steps to offset the effects of new tariffs.

The company formerly known as Restoration Hardware reported first-quarter adjusted earnings per share of $0.13, while analysts surveyed by Visible Alpha were looking for an adjusted loss of $0.07 per share. Revenue jumped 12% year-over-year to $814.0 million, slightly below estimates.

CEO Gary Friedman wrote in a letter to shareholders that RH was especially pleased with its performance in England and the rest of Europe.

Friedman also said that the company was maintaining its full-year guidance despite “the speculative and uncertain outcome related to tariffs and the macroeconomic environment,” including a weak housing market. Friedman explained that in response, RH was “delaying the launch of the new concept that was planned for the second half of 2025 to the Spring of 2026 when there is more certainty regarding tariffs.” In addition, the company will continue to shift sourcing out of China, and “resourced a significant portion of our upholstered furniture to our own North Carolina factory.”

Friedman noted that because the tariffs have disrupted global shipments and resourcing, it is reducing its revenue outlook by 6 percentage points in the current quarter. However, the company anticipates making that up in the second half of the year. RH sees 2025 revenue up 10% to 13%. 

RH shares jumped 20% in the opening minutes of trading Friday. Even with the surge, the stock is down nearly 50% since the start of the year.

-Bill McColl

Oracle Levels to Watch After Stock’s Post-Earnings Surge

10 hr 59 min ago

Oracle (ORCL) shares soared to a record high Thursday after the enterprise software giant’s quarterly results and sales outlook sailed past Wall Street expectations.1

The company said it expects “dramatically higher” revenue growth this fiscal year, driven by strength in its cloud infrastructure segment, which is sees growing more than 70%. The bullish outlook prompted several analysts to lift their price targets, with KeyBanc analysts saying in a note to clients that Oracle’s growth projections were “stunning.”

Oracle shares jumped 13% to close Thursday at just under $200, pacing S&P 500 gainers. The stock has risen nearly 70% from its early-April low and is up 20% so far in 2025, easily outpacing the S&P 500 over those periods. The stock was down slightly in premarket trading Friday.

Oracle shares forged an inverse head and shoulders on the chart between March and May before breaking out above the pattern’s neckline earlier this month. That momentum accelerated on Thursday, with the stock staging a breakaway gap on heavy trading volume.

While the relative strength index confirms bullish price momentum, it also warns of extreme overbought conditions with a reading above 85, potentially leading to short-term profit-taking.

Bars pattern analysis forecasts a potential upside price target of $275 and indicates the trend could last until mid December. Investors should watch important support levels on Oracle’s chart around $180 and $154.

Read the full technical analysis piece here.

-Timothy Smith

Futures Point to Lower Open for Major Indexes

11 hr 40 min ago

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 1%.

S&P 500 futures also declined 1%.

Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 1.2%.