News Bulletin
Monday, May 18, 2026
Evening Edition

Economic Numbers:

Time	Event	Actual	Forecast	Previous
Monday, May 18, 2026
10:00	NAHB Housing Market Index (May)	37.00	34.00	34.00
11:30	3-Month Bill Auction	3.60%		3.61%
11:30	6-Month Bill Auction	3.62%		3.62%
16:00	Overall Net Capital Flow (Mar)	150.70B		182.70B
16:00	US Foreign Buying, T-bonds (Mar)	13.50B		2.60B

Indices

	CLOSE	50 DMA	200 DMA
DJIA	49,686.12	48,030.27	47,484.95
NASDAQ	26,090.73	23,414.74	22,982.04
S&P 500	7,403.06	6,930.08	6,786.91

Earnings Calendar:

(EPS: Earning Per Share / Rev: Revenue / Mkt Cap: market Capital/ BMO: Before Market Opening /AMC: After Market Close)

COMPANY	EPS Act	EPS Fore	Rev Act	Rev Fore	Mkt Cap	Time
Masimo MASI:US		1.43		398.65M	$9.44B	AM
Chart Industries GTLS:US		2.47		1.12B	$8.76B	AM
Aimco AIV:US					$7.87B	PM
Brady BRC:US	1.5	1.36	435.24M	405.86M	$3.93B	AM
HUB HUBG:US		0.39		885.76M	$2.41B	PM
Agilysys AGYS:US		0.5		81.63M	$1.95B	PM
Veris Residential CLI:US				67.94M	$1.76B	PM

Market News:

Wall Street on Monday bounced off session lows to end mixed in a volatile trading session marked by bouts of seesawing, as traders took stock of an easing global bond sell-off and a protracted impasse between the U.S. and Iran.

Media reports said both Washington and Tehran had made changes to their respective proposals to end the war, but still remained far apart on any diplomatic breakthrough. Oil prices gained after a period of fluctuation amid fresh security incidents in the Middle East, then pared their advance after President Donald Trump said he was postponing a planned military attack on Iran for Tuesday.

Losses in the technology sector also weighed on markets ahead of Nvidia’s quarterly earnings later this week, in what will be a big test of the artificial intelligence trade that has played a major role in powering U.S. stocks back to record highs despite the geopolitical landscape.

The benchmark S&P 500 index shed 0.1% to close at 7,402.81 points, the tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite slipped 0.5% to settle at 26,090.73 points, and the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.3% to conclude at 49,686.12 points.

The indexes are coming off a mostly muted weekly performance, though the S&P did eke out a gain to post a seven-week win streak, its longest such run since a nine-week showing towards the end of 2023. The S&P and Nasdaq also posted a series of record closes in the week, though sentiment took a big hit on Friday due to the global bond sell-off.

"Markets have staged a strong rebound, with the S&P 500 up about 18% and technology leading with gains of roughly 36%. In the near term, much of the fuel behind that rally has been used, and a period of digestion looks likely," Keith Lerner, chief investment officer and chief market strategist at Truist, told Investing.com.

"Technology, in particular, is now extended above its trend line that began with the late-2022 bull market. At the same time, the 10-year Treasury remains elevated above 4.5% and oil prices are adding to inflation concerns. While the longer-term bull trend remains intact, we expect a bumpier path in the near term

Trump says holding off on planned attack

Geopolitical tensions grabbed a chunk of the spotlight to kick off the week.

Trump on Truth Social said he had ordered the U.S. military to not go ahead with a scheduled attack on Iran on Tuesday after being requested by leaders from Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Trump said "serious negotiations" were "now taking place" and that the leaders believed a peace deal would be made which would be "very acceptable " to all parties.

"This Deal will include, importantly, NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS FOR IRAN!" Trump said, adding that he had also instructed the U.S. military "to be prepared to go forward with a full, large scale assault of Iran, on a moment’s notice, in the event that an acceptable Deal is not reached."

Trump’s comments came after fresh tensions over the weekend, following a drone strike that hit a nuclear power plant in the United Arab Emirates. Saudi Arabia separately said it had intercepted three drones from Iraq, which in turn said it was investigating the incident.

Trump last week rejected an Iranian response to a U.S. proposal to end hostilities, and said an ongoing ceasefire between the warring parties was now on "massive life support."

“For Iran, the Clock is Ticking, and they better get moving, FAST, or there won’t be anything left of them. TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE!” Trump had written on Truth Social on Sunday.

The two parties remain at odds over several points. Washington wants Tehran to end its nuclear ambitions, hand over all enriched uranium, and reopen the critical Strait of Hormuz. Iran, for its part, wants an end to fighting on all fronts, compensation for war damages, and an end to the U.S. naval blockade of its ports and coastline. Iran is also at odds with the demand to end its nuclear activities, one of the biggest sticking points between the warring nations.

Iran’s state media reported that though Trump had publicly rejected Tehran’s proposal completely, Pakistani mediators had sent along a U.S. response with corrective points and suggestions, citing comments from foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei.

Tasnim News Agency said the U.S. had agreed to waive Iran’s oil sanctions among its points, citing a source close to the negotiating team. Tasnim also said that Iran still finds the U.S. demands "excessive" despite the changes to the draft, citing the same source. However, CNBC reported that the sanctions reprieve was a false claim, citing a U.S. official.

Meanwhile, Reuters reported that the U.S. had shown flexibility on allowing Iran to maintain limited peaceful nuclear activities under the supervision of the atomic watchdog, citing a senior Iranian source.

Trump told the New York Post that he was "not open" to concessions for Iran, and warned Tehran knows "what’s going to be happening soon."

Axios reported that the White House had found Iran’s updated proposal to not be a "meaningful improvement" and "insufficient" for a deal, citing two U.S. officials. Axios added that Trump was expected to meet with his national security team on Tuesday to discuss military options for Iran.

Against this backdrop, oil prices initially fell on Monday, but then quickly turned higher and added to those gains until Trump’s announcement that he was holding off the planned attack on Iran, after which they pared their advance. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, were last down 0.3% to $108.99 a barrel.

Stability returns after bond bloodbath

Market participants were also focused on the fixed-income markets. A heavy global bond sell-off built momentum last week and peaked on Friday, sending yields soaring and helping several benchmark instruments across the world notch a series of "highest ever" milestones.

The sell-off was sparked by a host of inflation data last week on major economies, including the U.S. The readings showed that surging oil prices due to the Iran war and the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz were having a big impact on consumer and producer prices. Markets responded by raising their expectations for interest rate hikes by global central banks.

On Friday, the United Kingdom’s 30-year gilt yields hit their highest level since 1998, while Japan’s 30-year government bond yield reached its highest level on record. At home, the benchmark U.S. 10-year yield scaled its highest level in almost a year, while the longer-end 30-year yield topped the key 5% level and hit its highest level since June 2007.

The bleeding in the bond market eased up on Monday, with the U.S. 10-year yield last little changed at 4.597% and the 30-year yield up nearly 1 basis point to 5.136%.

As per the CME FedWatch tool, interest rate hike odds on Monday remained largely unchanged from last week, with chances of a hike seen at every remaining monetary policy committee meeting this year. The Federal Reserve is currently in transition mode, with incoming chair Kevin Warsh expected to sworn in on Friday by Trump, according to Reuters, citing a White House official.

Richard Reyle, chief investment officer at Questar Capital Partners, pointed out the outsized effect a rise in bond yields could have on technology stocks. Historically, these massively valued stocks generally fall when rates rise, because they rely heavily on profits expected in the future.

"The stock market is coming to the sudden realization that new Fed Chair Kevin Warsh may need to raise rates rather than lower them, and the market hates that. Right now, the bond market is repricing this and rates are drifting higher, which comes just as the hyperscalers enter their most capital intensive spending cycle, which raises worries about their ability to keep funding this spending," Reyle said.

"The swift rise in bond yields if sustained could threaten the tech sector’s leadership in the stock market, especially at a time when things have been frothy in this market. The vertical move upward in tech is not sustainable and while earnings have been very impressive, that strength is already priced in. Sell in May and go away may be the right trade at this time," he added.

Nvidia, the AI litmus test

Speaking of tech stocks, attention this week will be grabbed by Nvidia’s quarterly report on Wednesday.

The performance of the world’s biggest company will be closely watched for clues on the durability of the AI-driven rally that has propelled megacap technology shares and broader equity indexes higher this year.

"Nvidia’s earnings are the ultimate test for a stock market that is not only trading at record highs, but one that also had a breathtaking bounce off of the March lows, as Nvidia is the market’s shorthand for everything AI and this market’s gains have been driven in large part by AI over the past few years," Reyle said.

"Heading into Nvidia’s Wednesday earnings report, we already know the numbers will be stellar given all of the CAPEX spending that has been reported by the hyperscalers in recent weeks. Stellar earnings for Nvidia doesn’t necessarily point to much further upside in the stock. To say that Nvidia is priced for perfection is an understatement," he added.

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