S&P 500 rises 0.6% at midday on easing Middle East tensions

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Publication Date: 2026-07-24 16:57:06

S&P 500 Rises 0.6% at Midday on Easing Middle East Tensions

By Anders Bylund, The Motley Fool Fri, July 24, 2026 at 9:57 AM PDT | 4 min read

• ^DJI: +0.54%
• ^IXIC: -0.10%
• NVDA: +0.64%
• ^GSPC: +0.39%
• CL=F: -4.15%

The major indexes are rallying on Friday. While gains are modest, any uptick is notable.

Oil prices retreated from recent highs following reports of potential diplomatic progress in the Middle East. At 11:46 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) is up 0.7%, gaining roughly 310 points. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) has climbed 0.6%, while the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) is up 0.1%. All three indexes started the day lower, ranging from a 0.1% drop in the Nasdaq to a 0.2% increase in the Dow.

China and Pakistan Step In, Oil Prices Step Down

Brent crude is trading near $95 per barrel, down roughly 4% from Thursday's close. This follows a Reuters report that Pakistan is exploring ways to broker new peace negotiations between the U.S. and Iran. According to three Pakistani sources, China is pushing the diplomatic effort. The Iranian conflict is beginning to weigh on Chinese interests, as the country is a leading importer of oil from the Persian Gulf.

This development comes after President Trump told Axios earlier this week that he is considering a "massive attack" on Iran—one larger than anything seen so far in the conflict. U.S. forces have been hitting Iranian targets for 13 consecutive nights. However, the mere possibility of diplomatic progress has been enough to relieve some pressure on oil markets.

Image source: Getty Images.

Earnings season also moved the market this morning. American Express (NYSE: AXP) took 120 points off the Dow with a 5.9% price drop. The credit card company beat earnings estimates and raised its full-year revenue guidance. Still, profit margins are expected to compress slightly in the second half as the company reinvests extra top-line cash into cardholder perks and other growth initiatives.

The tech sector added more pressure than fuel to the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite. Korean memory chip giant SK Hynix (NASDAQ: SKHY) is down 6.6% on reports that the company is reallocating some of its AI-oriented HBM manufacturing capacity to commodity DRAM production. It remains unclear whether memory demand from AI computing systems is slowing or if DRAM margins are becoming more lucrative. Hynix's first earnings report as a Nasdaq-traded company, due next week, should provide insight.

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) is up 2.5%, providing the biggest boost to all three major indexes. The stock bounced back from Thursday's decline as investors rotate back into mega-cap tech.

Wrapping Up a Wild Week

Friday's gains brought the Dow and S&P 500 back to where they were at the end of last Friday, making up for Thursday's deep cuts. The Nasdaq Composite is down 1.4% for the week—not catastrophic, but not a strong performance either.

The market spent most of the week digesting the actual costs of building the AI infrastructure that many have promised will change everything.