The main stock indexes struggled for big gains on Wednesday, though a positive showing suggests investors, traders and speculators are generally in a "risk on" mood amid optimism about the long-term durability of the market's major theme. The geopolitical landscape is still rocky, but the earnings environment remains healthy.
The White House rapid response team described a draft peace plan that was reported by Iranian state TV and would open the Strait of Hormuz as a "complete fabrication" and "not true." At the same time, President Donald Trump told PBS News that Iran won't get relief from economic sanctions in exchange for its highly enriched uranium. "No, no, not at all. Not sanctions relief, no," the president answered when PBS asked about the status of a key point in negotiations to end the war.
The front-month West Texas Intermediate crude futures contract traded as low as $87.17 per barrel and closed down 4.7% for the day at $89.47. WTI traded as high as $119.48 on March 9, its intraday peak during the war in the Middle East.
The 2-year Treasury yield, a market-based gauge of short-term policy on interest rates, was down 1.7 basis points to 4.033% today vs 4.05% on Tuesday. The 10-year Treasury yield, a starting point for mortgage rates and corporate bonds, fell 1.4 basis points to 4.447% from 4.491%.
At the closing bell, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.4% at 50,644, the broad-based S&P 500 had added 0.02% to 7,520, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was up 0.07% at 26,674.
Goldman sets year-end target of 8,000 for the S&P 500
Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs strategists raised their year-end target for the S&P 500 to 8,000 from 7,600. "Continued earnings growth should drive continued equity market upside," the strategists write. "The increased return forecast reflects increased estimates for S&P 500 earnings following an exceptionally strong first-quarter reporting season."
The Russell 2000 Index of small-cap stocks closed lower but has added more than 17% year to date vs a gain of about 10% for the S&P 500 amid enduring appetite for riskier companies. Consumer discretionary stocks and consumer staples stocks were the top two sectors on Wednesday, both groups posting gains of greater than 1%.
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Technology and energy stocks joined financials and utility stocks in the red. Nvidia (NVDA, -1.1%) was one of three Magnificent 7 stocks to post a loss, joining Microsoft (MSFT, -0.8%) and Alphabet (GOOGL, -0.01%).
Amazon.com (AMZN, +2.5%), Apple (AAPL, +0.8%), Meta Platforms (META, +3.7%) and Tesla (TSLA, +1.6%) were up for the day.
Honeywell's Quantinuum files for an IPO
Honeywell (HON, -0.07%) was among 10 Dow Jones stocks in negative territory after its majority-owned subsidiary Quantinuum submitted paperwork to the Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering (IPO).
Quantinuum plans to sell approximately 21.1 million shares at $45 to $50 per share, for estimated proceeds of $941.7 million at the midpoint of the offering and $1.09 billion if underwriters exercise their full allotments.
Quantinuum plans to list on the Nasdaq under the symbol QNT. Its market cap, assuming the IPO proceeds as expected, would approach $13 billion, making it the biggest pure-play quantum computing offering of 2026.
Track all markets on TradingViewQuantinuum was founded in 2021 through the merger of Honeywell Quantum Solutions and UK-based startup Cambridge Quantum. Its customers include Amgen (AMGN, +0.03%) and JPMorgan (JPM, -2.5%).
Honeywell is Quantinuum's biggest shareholder, at approximately 54%. Other strategic investors include Amgen and JPMorgan, as well as Mitsui (MITSY, -4.2%) and Nvidia.
Zscaler has execution issues
Zscaler (ZS, -31.5%) was a major drag on Nasdaq-100 ETFs and mutual funds after management reported expectations-beating fiscal 2026 third-quarter results but underwhelmed Wall Street with its forward guidance.
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives says it's a matter of execution at the company level and not a sign of bigger problems for the AI boom. "We believe ZS is a premier name to own as increased enterprise AI adoption further amplifies the need for zero-trust architecture," Ives observes in a post-earnings analysis.
Track all markets on TradingViewIves reiterated his Overweight (Buy) rating but cut his 12-month target price for the cybersecurity stock from $300 to $220. "Overall, ZS needs to show better execution to get out of the investor penalty box," the analyst concludes.
Indeed, Zscaler says conservative estimates for the fourth quarter and the full year are about the departure of two sales executives.
"We already appointed a replacement for one of these leaders, and we are in the late stages of hiring a leader for the other role," management explained. "However, we are taking a prudent approach to our guidance during the transition."
