U.S. stocks climbed to record highs on Tuesday, led by a 916-point, or 1.7%, surge in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the U.S. is in talks with Iran that could result in a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
“We are in talks with the Iranians,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Tuesday. “There is a chance we may have a deal today or tomorrow to open the Strait and move towards a more normalized position in this conflict.” Oil prices dropped on the remarks, with West Texas Intermediate futures falling around 5% to roughly $76 per barrel and Brent crude down about 4% to near $79 a barrel.
The S&P 500 added 1.5%, touching its first all-time intraday high since June. The Nasdaq Composite rose 2%.
Strong earnings results added to the day’s gains. Palantir Technologies stock jumped 27% after second-quarter results that Chief Executive Officer Alex Karp called “otherworldly,” pointing to surging demand for AI sovereignty. Among chip stocks, Micron Technology climbed 8% and Marvell Technology rallied 13%.
Caterpillar led the Dow with a 6% advance, driven by second-quarter earnings that topped estimates and an upward revision to its revenue growth outlook. The company highlighted robust orders tied to AI data center construction and indicated that full-year tariff costs would land toward the bottom of the range it had previously forecast.
Technology shares climbed 3%, while the financials sector added 1%, with Goldman Sachs Group among the standouts at more than 3%. Industrials and materials both posted gains of close to 2%.
The broader reporting season has impressed, with FactSet data cited by CNBC showing that more than 84% of S&P 500 companies have exceeded analysts’ expectations so far.
Monday’s session had also closed on a strong note, with the Dow finishing at a record high. Amazon shares retreated Tuesday after founder Jeff Bezos disclosed plans to offload roughly $4 billion of his holdings, following the company’s first-ever close above a $3 trillion market capitalization on Monday.
