Trump Pauses Iran Strikes as Oil Plunges — Dow Notches Best Day in Weeks, Palantir Soars After Blowout Earnings

Wall Street Kicks Off August With a Broad, Risk-On Rally

Trump Pauses Iran Strikes, Sending Oil Tumbling and Stocks Sharply Higher

• President Trump announced he was calling off plans for further U.S. strikes on Iran to pursue negotiations aimed at reopening the Strait of Hormuz and moving toward Iranian denuclearization.
• Iran's Foreign Ministry denied that active negotiations with Washington were underway, even as shipping through alternate routes off the Omani coast reportedly resumed.
• Oil prices tumbled on the de-escalation: WTI crude fell ▼ 5.1% to $80.34 a barrel and Brent slid to roughly $83.24, the sharpest one-day drop in weeks.
• The relief rally, paired with a strong ISM manufacturing reading, sent the S&P 500 up ▲ 1.48% and the Nasdaq up ▲ 2.13% — the market's best session in weeks.

Big Tech and Industrials Power the Dow's Best Session in Weeks

• Six stocks drove roughly 87% of the Dow's 693-point advance: Microsoft ▲ 4.9%, Alphabet ▲ 4.93%, Amazon ▲ 4.64%, Boeing ▲ 7.93%, Sherwin-Williams ▲ 3.78%, and Caterpillar ▲ 2.24%.
• Amazon (AMZN) joined the $3 trillion market-cap club as shares topped $286.
• Boeing (BA) surged after the FAA certified the 737 MAX 7, clearing a decade-long delay and unlocking a key growth aircraft for the company.
• Semiconductor and megacap-tech names extended gains into the close as investors rotated back into risk on the Iran de-escalation and a batch of strong earnings.

M&A Deals, Earnings Beats, and Palantir's Blowout Quarter

• Atkore (ATKR) led gainers, surging ▲ 28% after Prysmian agreed to acquire it for $95 a share in a $3.8 billion deal.
• CNH Industrial (CNH) jumped ▲ 16% after a Q2 revenue beat and a raised full-year guidance.
• Oklo (OKLO) climbed ▲ 14.8% as nuclear-power names tied to AI data-center demand kept rallying, while QuantumScape (QS) added ▲ 9.95%.
• Palantir (PLTR) rose ▲ 10.3% in the regular session, then jumped another 13% after hours once it posted 93% revenue growth and hiked full-year guidance — CEO Alex Karp called demand "otherworldly."

Dow Notches Its Best Close in Weeks as Yields Ease and Factory Data Beats

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average led index gains, jumping ▲ 1.32% to 53,178.41, while the S&P 500 rose ▲ 1.48% to 7,600.49 and the Nasdaq climbed ▲ 2.13% to 25,913.90.
• Monday's rally builds on a positive prior week: the S&P 500 rose about 1.1% and the Nasdaq gained roughly 1.3% between July 27 and July 31, even as the Fed held rates steady amid dissent from three policymakers.
• The 10-year Treasury yield eased to 4.69%, down from around 4.73% last week, while the ISM manufacturing index climbed to 55.6 — its strongest reading since May 2022 — with factory employment rising for the first time in 33 months.
• The Cboe Volatility Index (VIX) fell to 15.71, its calmest close in weeks, as oil's retreat eased investor anxiety over the Iran standoff.

What to Watch the Week of August 3

• Palantir's blowout earnings reaction hits Tuesday, August 4, after PLTR jumped 13% after hours on 93% revenue growth and a full-year guidance hike to $8.15–8.16 billion.
• AMD, SpaceX (its first report as a public company), and Disney are among the names reporting later this week.
• JOLTS job openings data is due Wednesday, August 5, a key read on labor-market tightness heading into Friday's jobs report.
• The July jobs report lands Friday, August 7 — the week's main economic event, closely watched for Fed rate-cut signals.
• The Strait of Hormuz remains the key swing factor for oil: Iran denies active negotiations even as Trump touts progress toward a deal.