NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. stock market pushed to more records Thursday as profits keep piling up for companies like Dollar Tree, Snowflake and Hormel Foods. A tentative deal to extend the ceasefire in the war with Iran by 60 days also helped lift the market and rein in oil prices.
The S&P 500 added 0.6% to its all-time high set the day before after drifting between small gains and losses in the morning. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 24 points, or less than 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.9% as both indexes also set records.
Stocks turned higher after oil prices gave back most of their own morning gains following reports of the tentative U.S.-Iran agreement, which still needs President Donald Trump’s approval. The price for a barrel of benchmark U.S. crude oil settled at $88.90 after regressing from an overnight high above $92.50.
Oil prices have been swinging as hopes rise and fall that the United States and Iran may reach a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and get crude flowing again from the Persian Gulf to customers worldwide. They have climbed enough that a report on Thursday showed a measure of U.S. inflation accelerated last month to its worst level in three years, roughly matching economists’ expectations.
Even with worries about expensive oil and high inflation, the U.S. stock market has run to records largely because U.S. companies keep making more money. Stock prices tend to follow the path of corporate profits over the long term, and companies have been routinely topping analysts’ expectations for the first three months of 2026.