Historic peak for the S&P 500. Apple drives Wall Street while Europe celebrates

The first hours of Friday's session on Wall Street are marked by slight increases. European stock exchanges are mostly closed for Labor Day. The S&P 500 hit a new intraday all-time high, supported by Apple shares, while oil prices fell.

Of the large markets in Europe, only the stock exchange in Great Britain was open on Friday. At the end of the day, the FTSE 100 index fell by 0.14%, to 10,363.93 points.

Meanwhile, growth continues in the United States. The Dow Jones is gaining 0.03%, the S&P 500 is rising by 0.67%, and the Nasdaq is rising by 1.16%.

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The VIX index, a measure of expected volatility and an instrument for assessing sentiment, falls by 0.06 percent, to 16.87 points.

Apple shares on the New York Stock Exchange are rising over 3%. after the consumer technology giant posted better-than-expected financial results and revenue for the second quarter of its fiscal year.

Moreover, the company's revenue guidance for the current quarter was better than expected, which overshadowed the fact that iPhone revenue came in below estimates for the second time in three quarters.

Oil prices are falling after Iran was expected to send its response through Pakistani mediators to the latest US amendments to the draft agreement to end the conflict in the Middle East.

These moves followed a record session on Thursday, during which the S&P 500 index closed above the 7,200-point mark for the first time in history. This helped both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq – which also posted a new record closing high – achieve their best monthly performance since 2020. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Index recorded its strongest monthly gain since November 2024.

A strong first-quarter earnings season, as well as hopes for an easing of tensions in the Middle East, ultimately helped drive stock prices higher year-to-date. Although the major indexes fell with the start of the US-Iran war, they are now well above their early 2026 levels.

David Krakauer, vice president of portfolio management at Mercer Advisors, is optimistic about the long-term trajectory of the stock market. While Krakauer is hopeful that the war with Iran will end soon, meaning the Strait of Hormuz reopens, he believes the potential for earnings growth in the U.S. and abroad will provide momentum for stocks even if the conflict persists.

“There can always be new news or a deterioration in sentiment, which could result in a small decline after a strong rally, but overall we remain strategically bullish on equities,” he said.

Noting that there will be winners and losers in the tech industry because not all AI capital expenditures will pay off, he added: “We believe productivity gains remain intact.”

A barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude is trading at $101.09 on the NYMEX in New York, down 3.78%.

Brent on ICE is valued at USD 107.70 per barrel, down by 2.47 percent (PAP Biznes)

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