Oil Surges 6%, S&P 500 Wobbles Before Fed And Tech Earnings: Stock Market Today

U.S. stocks wobbled in choppy Wednesday midday trade as crude oil rallied on a stalled U.S.-Iran standoff, the 10-year Treasury yield punched back above 4.4%, and traders braced for a Federal Reserve decision and a heavy slate of after-hours earnings from Big Tech.

Crude led the macro narrative. WTI futures jumped 5.6% to $105.49 a barrel, while Brent climbed 5.9% to $117.81, approaching March highs amid renewed Hormuz disruption fears. Refined products followed: gasoline rose 4.5% and heating oil gained 5.7%.

Rates moved in tandem with oil. The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield rose for a third straight session to 4.40%, the highest in over a month, as markets repriced for more persistent, energy-driven inflation. The 2-year yield reached 3.90%, while the 30-year approached 4.98%.

Focus now shifts to Fed Chair Jerome Powell, who is set to deliver what is expected to be his final press conference following the confirmation of Kevin Warsh.

The Federal Reserve is widely expected to leave rates unchanged at 3.75%, but the investor focus will be on the whether policymakers see renewed inflationary risks.

Across U.S. equity markets by midday Wednesday, the action was mixed with defensive flows offsetting weakness in megacap tech ahead of after-the-bell prints from Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT), Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META), Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN).

The four hyperscalers—worth roughly $11 trillion combined—fell between 1% and 2% after reports that OpenAI missed internal revenue and adoption targets, raising fresh questions about AI spending.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.1% to 7,131. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 262 points, or 0.5%.

The Nasdaq 100 bucked the trend with a 0.3% gain,supported by strength in semiconductors, including a 10.3% surge in Intel Corp. (NASDAQ:INTC) and a 14.5% rip in Seagate Technology Holdings plc (NASDAQ:STX) after blockbuster results.

In commodities, gold pulled back 1.1% to $4,544 an ounce as a stronger dollar and higher real yields weighed on the metal. Silver dropped 1.9%, while copper slipped 0.4%.

Wednesday’s Performance In Major US Indices, ETFs

Index	Last	% Change
S&P 500	7,131.07	-0.1%
Dow Jones	48,879.87	-0.5%
Nasdaq 100	27,123.13	+0.3%
Russell 2000	2,742.65	-0.5%

According to the Benzinga Pro platform:

• The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:VOO) slipped 0.1%.
• The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (NYSE:DIA) fell 0.5%.
• The Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ) edged up 0.3%.
• The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE:IWM) dropped 0.5%.

Oil Bulls And Storage Stocks Charge, AI Test Names And Crypto Brokers Crater

Energy stocks led sector gains, with the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLE) rallying alongside crude. The SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (NYSE:XOP) and the United States Oil Fund (NYSE:USO) also outperformed.

Among individual movers, General Dynamics Corp. (NYSE:GD) jumped 10% after beating earnings estimates and reporting strong bookings. Generac Holdings Inc. (NYSE:GNRC) surged 16% on a guidance raise tied to data center demand, while Seagate's results lifted peers including Western Digital Corp. (NASDAQ:WDC), which gained 11%.

Consumer and payments names also impressed. Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ:SBUX) climbed 9% on strong U.S. comps, and Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) rose 8.9% after delivering its fastest revenue growth in over a decade.

On the downside, Teradyne Inc. (NASDAQ:TER) plunged 16% on soft guidance tied to AI program timing. Robinhood Markets Inc. (NASDAQ:HOOD) fell 14% after a revenue miss driven by a 47% drop in crypto-related income, dragging Coinbase Global Inc. (NASDAQ:COIN) down 6.9% in sympathy.

Healthcare and consumer names also struggled. GE HealthCare Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:GEHC) dropped 13% on margin pressure from tariffs, while Brown-Forman Corp. (NYSE:BFB) fell 10% following a major distribution overhaul. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:REGN) lost 5.4% amid pre-earnings positioning.

Elsewhere, Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) slipped 4% after issuing weaker-than-expected guidance.

Wednesday’s Russell 1000 Top Gainers

Name	% change
Generac Holdings Inc.	+16.00%
Seagate Technology Holdings plc	+14.48%
Western Digital Corp.	+10.96%
Intel Corp.	+10.25%
General Dynamics Corp.	+10.01%

Wednesday’s Russell 1000 Top Losers

Name	% change
Teradyne Inc.	-16.13%
Robinhood Markets Inc.	-13.98%
GE HealthCare Technologies Inc.	-13.33%
Brown-Forman Corp.	-10.06%
Coinbase Global Inc.	-6.89%

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