By Mike Dolan
August 5 (Reuters) - What matters in U.S. and global markets today
By Mike Dolan, Editor-at-Large, Finance and Markets
For all the doubts and handwringing, the S&P 500 and Dow Jones are back at record highs after surging on Tuesday amid falling oil prices and the bumper earnings season. It wasn't all plain sailing overnight, however, as SpaceX shares fell back despite beating revenue expectations in its debut quarterly earnings report.
I'll get into that and more below.
But first, check out my mid-week column, where I discuss the prospect of an AI "jobsmageddon" and more.
And listen to the latest episode of the Morning Bid daily podcast, where we discuss yesterday's standout earnings reports.
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OUTER SPACEX
The market reaction to SpaceX's debut earnings release was rocky despite its strong top-line figures. Doubts about its rising AI capex and cash burn dominated the discussion, alongside lingering concern about whether sales of insider and early-investor shares could pressure the stock as the post-IPO lockup periods expire.
Chipmaker AMD also slipped overnight after its own forecast-beating update.
Earlier in the day, however, Palantir saw its shares boom nearly 30% after its impressive quarterly results, while Dow stalwart Caterpillar also jumped on its earnings. Overall, the reporting season has been extraordinary in its strength, and the index gains appear to have held overnight.
Yesterday's strong performance on Wall Street may be thanks, in part, to Brent crude, which dropped another 5% to below $80 per barrel yesterday. However, prices edged back up above that level on Wednesday after Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi rebels said they attacked a Saudi oil tanker in the Red Sea.
More broadly, Washington officials have indicated that mediation between the U.S. and Iran on reopening the Strait of Hormuz could bear fruit this week.
While Tehran has denied direct talks with the U.S. are happening, it said talks with Oman over transit through the strait were continuing, while Qatari officials said go-betweens were making progress in efforts to end the war. Traffic through the strait is also currently busier than it has been for many weeks. Elsewhere, the oil price drop has taken the heat out of Treasury yields, even though Kansas City Fed chief Jeffrey Schmid said on Tuesday that the central bank would need to tighten policy to get inflation back to its 2% target.