Dow Jumps 500 Points as Oil Cools and Bond Yields Ease

CNBC, Market Watch, and Reuters contributed to this report.

Stocks caught a break on Wednesday.

The Dow surged 501 points, or 1%, while the S&P 500 rose 0.9% and the Nasdaq climbed 1.3% as oil prices pulled back and Treasury yields eased. Traders were also looking ahead to Nvidia’s earnings, which are still the big event on the calendar for the chip trade and the wider market.

The relief came after several tense sessions tied to the Middle East and a nasty bond-market selloff. West Texas Intermediate crude dropped 4% to about $99 a barrel, and Brent fell 5% to around $105. The move followed Trump’s comment that the administration was in the “final stages” of talks with Iran, which gave investors a bit more confidence that the conflict might not spiral further.

Bond yields cooled too. The 10-year Treasury yield fell 9 basis points, while the 30-year dropped 7. That helped steady nerves after recent spikes had investors worrying about higher borrowing costs, sticky inflation and a tougher backdrop for both consumers and tech stocks.

Nvidia was still the center of attention. Shares rose 2% ahead of its earnings release after the bell, and traders were treating the report as a major checkup on AI demand. The stock market has been leaning hard on the AI story for months, so Nvidia does not just matter to chip investors. It matters to nearly everyone holding an index fund.

James Demmert of Main Street Research summed up the mood pretty well: Nvidia has become the most important AI stock, and its results are likely to shape how investors think about the whole market.

Elsewhere, the session had its share of sharp moves. Intuit fell after Reuters reported layoffs, Hasbro slid after reaffirming its outlook and flagging cybersecurity costs, while AMC jumped after CEO Adam Aron bought shares and took a victory lap online. Cava, Target, TJX and several chip names also moved on earnings.

For now, though, the headline is simple: the pressure that hit stocks over the last few days eased a bit, and buyers were quick to step back in.