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Stocks rallied on Tuesday as oil traded lower and some strong first-quarter earnings results hit the tape.
Earnings for the first quarter are winding down, but 85% of S&P 500 companies beat Wall Street expectations.
Needless to say, the direction of the stock market will continue to be determined by oil prices and success, or lack thereof, in Iran.
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Futures are trading higher on Wednesday as news of an impending end to the Iran war is sending oil prices dramatically lower. This news comes after a bounce-back Tuesday that benefited from lower oil prices, some strong earnings, and solid buying from retail investors. At the same time, hedge funds continue to sell into any market strength. In fact, BTIG reported that the 2nd-largest hedge fund selling of technology stocks in a decade matches the 3rd-largest retail fund flows into the QQQ ETF. With that in mind, the Nasdaq soared to yet another all-time high on Tuesday, closing the day up 1.03% at 25,326, while the S&P 500 also closed at an all-time high on Tuesday, up 0.81% at 7,259. The Dow Jones Industrials checked in with a gain of 0.73% to close at 49,298. The big winner on the day was the small-cap-heavy Russell 2000, which has been the leading index this year, closing up 1.64% at 2,841, and that also was another all-time high.
After hitting some high yields Monday, not seen in months, yields were lower across the Treasury curve as buyers jumped in, especially on longer-dated U.S. debt. While concerns over the potential for inflation to continue to edge higher and the possibility of no interest rate cuts until 2027 continue to hover over the market, 5%+ yields on the 20- and 30-year bonds were too much to ignore. The 30-year long bond finished trading Tuesday at 4.99%, while the benchmark 10-year note was last seen at 4.42%.
Some selling across the energy complex was a major positive on Tuesday, as both major benchmarks finished the day lower. The lack of negative news about Iran and the passage of some ships escorted by the U.S. Navy safely through the Strait of Hormuz contributed to lower prices. Brent Crude finished the day at $110.30, down 3.64%, while West Texas Intermediate closed the session at $102.80, down 342%. The last trade for Natural gas was reported at $2.76, down 3.59%.
As has been the rule lately, when stock prices go higher, Gold and Silver often follow along in tandem, and that was the case on Tuesday. Gold closed the day higher by 0.76% at $4,556, while Silver was last seen at $72,74, higher by 0.18%. This comes after it was reported that Central Banks from around the world were net sellers of gold in March, with a stunning 30 tonnes of outflows.
The cryptocurrency market surged, with Bitcoin (BTC) breaking above $80,000 for the first time in three months and reaching $81,500. The rally was powered by more than $500 million in fresh inflows into spot Bitcoin ETFs, robust institutional buying, and growing investor appetite for higher-risk altcoins. The bullish momentum held steady despite persistent geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. At 8 AM EDT, Bitcoin traded at $82,490, while Ethereum was quoted at $2,411.
24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports daily to identify new investment ideas for both investors and traders. Some of these daily analyst calls cover stocks to buy. Other calls cover stocks to sell or avoid. Remember that no single analyst call should ever be used as a basis to buy or sell a stock.
Here are some of the top Wall Street analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen on Wednesday, May 6, 2026.
Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs, which launched the target price for the chip giant to $450 from $240.
American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE: AEO) was upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight at Barclays, with a $19 target price.
LCI Industries (NYSE: LCII) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Roth Capital, which has a $164 target price for the shares.
GlobalFoundries (NYSE: GFS) was raised to Positive from Neutral at Susquehanna, which doubled the target price for the shares to $100 from $50.
Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ: PLTR) was raised to Buy from Hold at Argus, which has a $190 target price objective.
Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Barclays, which cut the target price for the retailer to $76 from $95.
Coupang (NYSE: CPNG) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citigroup, which trimmed the target price for the stock to $22.20 from $23.
IAC (NYSE: IAC) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies, which stays with a $44 target price for the company.
Reddit (NYSE: RDDT) was downgraded to Accumulate from Buy at Phillip Securities, which dropped the target price for the stock to $200 from $240.
TopBuild (NYSE: BLD) was cut to Hold from Buy at Loop Capital, which kept a $485 target price for the shares.
Celsius Holdings (NASDAQ: CELH) was initiated with a Neutral rating at Rothschild & Co Redburn, which has a $47 target price for the company.
Dakota Gold (NYSE: DC) was initiated with an Outperform rating at CIBC, with an $11 target price.
Kymera Therapeutics (NASDAQ: KYMR) was started with a Buy rating at Canaccord, with a $106 target price.
Merck & Co (NYSE: MRK) was reinstated with a Neutral rating at Citigroup, which has a $125 target price for the pharmaceutical giant.
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