This Week on Wall Street

The major indexes spent most of the week near records before a broad pullback Thursday cooled the rally. Stocks had climbed through midweek on tech-led buying, but momentum faded after NVIDIA's blockbuster report failed to extend the gains — the chipmaker posted record revenue of $81.6B (+85%), an $80B buyback and a dividend hike, yet shares slipped as sky-high expectations went unmet. The mood soured further when Walmart sank more than 7% on cautious full-year profit guidance, citing margin pressure from higher fuel costs and a strained consumer. Oil gushed higher toward $98 as U.S.–Iran de-escalation hopes faded, and the 10-year Treasury yield rebounded near 4.63% on hotter producer prices and sticky 3.8% inflation, weighing on rate-sensitive groups. Large caps closed lower Thursday — the S&P 500 and Nasdaq each slipped about 0.5% — though small caps bucked the trend with the Russell 2000 jumping 2.6%, leaving the major indexes modestly higher on the week. With markets closed Monday for Memorial Day, attention turns to next week's April PCE inflation and a fresh round of AI earnings from Salesforce, Dell and Marvell.