Wall Street Hits All-Time High         04/15 15:13

   U.S. stocks are flirting with a record Wednesday following their big rally 
the last two weeks on hopes that the global economy can avoid a worst-case 
scenario because of the U.S.-Iran war.

   NEW YORK (AP) -- U.S. stocks are flirting with a record Wednesday following 
their big rally the last two weeks on hopes that the global economy can avoid a 
worst-case scenario because of the U.S.-Iran war.

   The S&P 500 rose 0.8% and was on track to eclipse its all-time high set in 
January. After falling nearly 10% below its record in late March, a drop steep 
enough that Wall Street calls it a "correction," the index at the heart of many 
401(k) accounts has since roared roughly 10% higher.

   Much of the rally has been due to expectations for calming tensions in the 
war and a resumption of the full flow of oil from the Persian Gulf to customers 
worldwide through the Strait of Hormuz. Hopes remained high Wednesday as 
regional officials told The Associated Press that the United States and Iran 
had an "in principle agreement" to extend a ceasefire to allow for more 
diplomacy.

   To be sure, stocks could easily get back to falling if those expectations 
get undercut, which has happened before in the war. Oil prices drifted up and 
down Wednesday and showed that caution remains in financial markets. Stock 
indexes around the world also made only modest movements following their big 
gains in recent weeks.

   The price of Brent crude, the international standard, edged up 0.1% to 
settle at $94.93 per barrel. That's still well above its roughly $70 price from 
before the war, though it's down from its $119 peak when worries about the 
fighting have been at their heights.

   A barrel of U.S. crude oil for May delivery inched up less than 0.1% to 
settle at $91.29.

   The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 52 points, or 0.1%, as of 3:09 
p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1.4% higher.

   If U.S.-Iran talks do happen and if they are successful, the war could end 
up being only a temporary setback for the global economy instead of a new 
normal of very high oil prices and inflation. And that in turn could allow 
investors to return their attention to what matters most for stock prices: 
money.

   Through all the day-to-day noise that can affect investors' opinions, stock 
prices tend to move with the direction of corporate profits over the long term. 
And positive trends there had stock markets doing well before the war began. 
Analysts also see continued growth ahead, for now at least.

   Bank of America rose 2% after saying it made $8.6 billion in profit during 
the first three months of the year. That's up 17% from a year earlier and more 
than analysts expected. CEO Brian Moynihan also said the bank saw signs of a 
"resilient American economy," including solid spending by U.S. consumers.

   Morgan Stanley jumped 4.7% after the investment bank likewise delivered a 
better-than-expected quarter of results.

   Companies hurt earlier in the year by worries about artificial-intelligence 
technology also rose to recover more of their losses for 2026. Some of the 
concerns were about companies potentially spending too much to build out AI 
capabilities, while others focused on businesses that may go obsolete because 
of AI-powered competition.

   The worries got so deep that they shook private-credit companies that have 
lent money to software businesses and others potentially under threat because 
of AI.

   ServiceNow climbed 7.8%, Oracle rose 4.6% and Ares Management gained 6.3% 
for some of Wednesday's biggest gains in the S&P 500. All are still down 
between 12% and 38% for the year so far.

   With stock prices overall back to where they were in January, and with 
analysts' expectations for upcoming profits from big U.S. companies only rising 
since then, optimists say many stocks look less expensive than they did a few 
months ago.

   "Today, we see compelling opportunity potential" to shift into areas of the 
market that look like better buys than earlier this year, such as technology 
stocks, said Mason Mendez, investment strategy analyst at Wells Fargo 
Investment Institute.

   The stock price of Allbirds surged more than 600% to top $18 after the 
company said it's shifting gears and moving into the AI computer infrastructure 
industry, while changing its name to NewBird AI. The Allbirds name will stay 
with the shoe brand that the company has already agreed to sell to American 
Exchange Group.

   Nike rose 3.7% after CEO Elliott Hill and Tim Cook -- a Nike director and 
the CEO of Apple -- disclosed that they purchased a combined 48,000 shares of 
the athletic shoe maker at a cost of about $1 million each. Nike shares are 
still down about 28% this year.

   On the losing end of Wall Street was ASML. The Dutch company, whose 
machinery helps make chips, fell 5.4% after giving a forecasted range for 
upcoming revenue whose midpoint fell below analysts' expectations. Its stock is 
nevertheless still up about 34% for the year so far.

   In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed in Europe following modest gains 
in Asia.

   In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.28% from 
4.26% late Tuesday.