Stock market today: S&P 500, Nasdaq, Dow futures drop as Trump rejects Iranian peace proposal – USA News 12 May 2026
Stock indexes dropped heading into a week that is already facing disruption from the ongoing Iran war.
Date: May 12, 2026 | Source: Yahoo Entertainment | Category: USA News
Overview
Stock indexes dropped heading into a week that is already facing disruption from the ongoing Iran war.
Key Details
Stock market today: Dow rises, S&P 500 and Nasdaq eke out records as chip stocks extend gains Rian Howlett , Karen Friar and Ines Ferré Updated Tue, May 12, 2026 at 2:45 AM GMT+5:30 1 min read ^GSPC ^DJI ^IXIC MU CL=F US stocks edged higher on Monday as semiconductors gained and oil prices climbed after President Trump dismissed Iran’s latest proposal aimed at ending the ongoing conflict.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose nearly 0.2%, while the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) climbed almost 0.1% to post another record close for the major averages after they posted all-time highs on Friday. Chip-related stocks climbed higher, with Micron (MU) surging to a record.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) rose almost 0.2% after an initial drop.
Geopolitical tensions remained in focus after Iran reportedly delivered a revised proposal to US negotiators calling for an end to the prolonged conflict and the removal of sanctions on Tehran, according to Iran’s Tasnim news agency.
Trump pushed back sharply on the proposal in a Truth Social post, calling Iran’s response “totally unacceptable.”
This week, fresh economic data, including April consumer and producer inflation reports, will be watched to see how higher oil prices are feeding into broader price pressures.
US stocks rose on Monday as semiconductor players edged higher and the markets shrugged off higher oil prices after President Trump rejected Iran’s latest proposal aimed at ending the ongoing conflict.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC) gained nearly 0.2% to a fresh all-time high, while the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) climbed above the flat line to post a new record.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) rose 0.1% after an initial drop into the red.
The AI trade continues to rise as chip stocks climbed higher on Monday. Memory maker Micron (MU) posted a new record.
JPMorgan Private Bank said in its 2026 mid-year outlook released on Monday that the "AI supercycle may just be getting started."
While some investors fear artificial intelligence could upend business models and the labor market, JPMorgan Private Bank says the "AI supercycle may just be getting started."
In its 2026 midyear outlook released on Monday, the firm said the prevailing narrative around the AI supercycle has become "too pessimistic," arguing that it is often easier to identify what technology will disrupt and replace than to envision the future it makes possible.
"In our view, the evidence suggests investing for a continuing AI supercycle, while acknowledging that disruption has consequences for both labor and business models," the bank's strategists wrote.
The firm laid out three specific recommendations for investors:
Invest in the data center build-out. The outlook favors companies in the semiconductor supply chain, manufacturers of networking and optical equipment, and power generation and transmission assets, calling them some of the most fundamentally attractive stocks in the market.
Focus on energy infrastructure. Given AI's enormous electricity demands, JPMorgan Private Bank sees power generation, transmission, and storage assets as direct beneficiaries of the build-out.
Look at the hyperscalers. Despite growing skepticism about their expanding capital expenditure plans, the banks’ strategists argue that Microsoft, Meta, Oracle, Google, and Amazon are well-positioned for continued AI adoption.
Furthermore, corporate executives say demand for cloud capacity already exceeds available supply, GPU rental costs are up 40% since October 2025, and the rise of agentic AI models should further boost demand, benefiting cloud platforms like Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud.
The White House will temporarily reduce the federal gasoline tax in an effort to address surging US gas prices “until it’s appropriate,” President Trump said while speaking to reporters on Monday.
“I think it’s a great idea,” Trump said in an interview with CBS News. “Yup, we’re going to take off the gas tax for a period of time, and when gas goes down, we’ll let it phase back in.”
Federal legislation applies an 18.4 cent per gallon tax to gasoline purchases and a tax of 22.4 cents per gallon on diesel. In the US, gasoline prices at the pump now average $4.52 per gallon, up from $3.14 per gallon a year ago, according to AAA.
Changing or halting the gas tax would require Congress, where both chambers are controlled by Republicans, to pass legislation.
Senate Democrats initially proposed suspending the gas tax in March until Oct. 1. Republican Sen. Josh Hawley said on Monday that he’s introducing legislation to suspend the tax. Energy Secretary Chris Wright has also said the White House is open to suspending the tax.
The gasoline tax generates about $2.5 billion per month in funding for roads, according to Reuters.
Monday.com (MNDY) stock trimmed gains to rise 4% on Monday. The company posted strong quarterly results and lifted its full-year forecast for both revenue and adjusted operating profits. The artificial intelligence work platform’s first quarter revenue grew 24% year over year, with a record $49 million in operating profits.
Plug Power (PLUG) is expected to report after the close on Monday. Shares of the fuel cell technology provider rose 14% in afternoon trading.
Corning (GLW) shares jumped 10% on Monday after Bank of America added the fiber optics material provider to its “US 1 List.” The stock is up 132% year to date. Heavyweight chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA) recently anounced a partnership with Corning, as optics is one of the crucial components of the booming AI industry.
Circle Internet Group (CRCL) stock seesawed on Monday before landing 13% higher by midday.
Yahoo Finance’s David Hollerith reports:
The stablecoin issuer reported its first quarter earnings amid a volatile year for crypto. Revenue climbed 20% year over year to $694 million, while earnings declined 15% to $55 million, or $0.21 per share. Analysts were expecting $46 million in profits and $721 million in total revenue.
However, investor optimism was lifted by higher stablecoin margins, a big token sale to institutions, and growing use-case opportunities.
Its flagship stablecoin, (USDC-USD), ended the first quarter with $77 billion in circulation. That’s a 28% increase from a year earlier and 2.3% from the end of 2025. Crucially, the company earned a higher margin on its stablecoin reserves during the period, signaling less dependence on third-party platforms like crypto exchanges Coinbase (COIN) and Binance.
Tesla’s (TSLA) Elon Musk, Apple’s (AAPL) Tim Cook, and Boeing's (BA) CEO Kelly Ortberg have all been directly invited to join President Trump’s upcoming trip to China for a key summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Bloomberg reported, citing a White House official.
Also on the list of those expected to join Trump on his trip are Goldman Sachs (GS) CEO David Solomon, BlackRock (BLK) CEO Larry Fink, Blackstone (BX) CEO Steve Schwarzman, Citi (C) CEO Jane Fraser, and Meta (META) president Dina Powell McCormick, per Bloomberg.
Nvidia’s (NVDA) Jensen Huang was not invited to join the delegation, according to Reuters.
The Micron (MU)-led Roundhill Memory ETF (DRAM) just reached $6.5 billion in assets in 36 days, making it the fastest ETF to hit that mark and beating the early-2024 bitcoin ETF boom, according to Bloomberg Intelligence ETF analyst Eric Balchunas.
BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) took 43 days to reach $6.5 billion, while Fidelity’s Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) took 51 days.
That makes the artificial intelligence memory trade one of the hottest ETF stories on Wall Street in the post-pandemic era — and a major acceleration from last week’s surge, when DRAM was barely a month old and already being treated like the go-to vehicle for the trade.
The latest milestone came after DRAM jumped 13% Friday and pulled in another $1 billion in inflows, according to Balchunas.
US stocks fell on Monday, with US-Iran negotiations in focus after two of the three major indexes finished the previous week at record highs.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI), S&P 500 (^GSPC), and Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) all lost roughly 0.1% to start Monday after the Dow and Nasdaq ended last week at record highs.
President Trump on Sunday called Tehran’s response to a US proposal for negotiations to potentially end the war “totally unacceptable,” sending oil prices ticking back up after whipsawing between steep gains and losses throughout last week.
In focus this week on the economic calendar are April Consumer Price Index and Producer Price Index numbers, out Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively — each expected to provide additional reads on how the war in Iran’s impacts are rippling out into the broader economy.
Fox Corporation (FOX), Barrick Mining (B), and Constellation Energy (CEG) beat top- and bottom-line estimates in results published Monday morning.
Oil prices ticked up through Monday morning as investors digested comments from President Trump on Sunday that Iran’s response to US proposals is “totally unacceptable.”
Futures on Brent crude (BZ=F), the international benchmark, held onto gains of roughly 3% to trade above $104 per barrel after rising to trade near $106 Sunday evening. Those on US benchmark WTI crude (CL=F) were up 3.2% Monday morning to trade above $98 after initially crossing $100 shortly after the Sunday open.
Prices on both US and international oil contracts whipsawed between gains and losses last week amid conflicting headlines.
News that the US had sent Iranian leaders a proposal of conditions to resume peace negotiations sent prices falling, with that movement reversed after Iran began striking targets inside the United Arab Emirates and attacking vessels in and around the Strait of Hormuz. Sunday’s announcement from President Trump that he found the Iranian response unacceptable sent oil climbing once again.
Three months into the war, commercial traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains at a near standstill, marking the critical waterway’s first near-complete stoppage in its recorded history, per JPMorgan.
With more than 10 million barrels per day of supply lost, per Goldman Sachs, global oil inventories have fallen to near-record lows, putting ever-greater pressure on the economy. The depletions are likely to “ultimately force the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, one way or another,” JPMorgan strategists wrote Monday morning.
More than 40 nations, led by France and the UK, are expected to meet today to discuss plans for naval escorts of vessels through the Strait of Hormuz once a stable ceasefire agreement between Washington and Tehran has been reached.
As the war in Iran rolls toward its fourth month, the market is “bending, not breaking,” though growth risks haven’t disappeared entirely, Goldman Sachs chief economist Jan Hatzius wrote in a client note on Monday.
Hatzius cited three reasons why the months-long closure of the Strait of Hormuz hasn’t yet derailed the economy:
Oil hasn’t rallied as much as expected, with the global market supported by unusually high inventories heading into the war.
Regional shortages in products such as jet fuel have been met with “relatively painless” forms of demand destruction, like reduced schedules on less valuable and critical flight routes.
The AI boom and supportive fiscal policy have helped the stock market to largely maintain its rally, even after a slower start to the year.
At the same time, the likelihood of a US recession in the next 12 months has fallen from 30% to 25%, according to Goldman research. While first quarter headline GDP growth was below expectations, private domestic sales have remained strong; April saw 115,000 jobs created and a drop in initial jobless claims.
But that doesn’t mean the market is facing any risk, Hatzius said. The bank’s 12-month recession outlook still remains 5% above pre-war levels. Goldman’s economists see a slowdown in consumer spending on the horizon as tax refund cash flow runs dry, gas prices continue to rise, and wage growth slows.
The S&P 500’s (^GSPC) record-high run could soon hit a speed bump.
Yahoo Finance’s Brian Sozzi reports:
On Friday, the S&P 500 closed 7.7% above its 50-day moving average, yet only 52% of its components closed above their own 50-day moving average, BTIG strategist Jonathan Krinsky pointed out in a new note. In the past 30 years, the S&P 500 has never had fewer than 55% of its components above their 50-day moving averages when the index itself was at least 7% above its 50-day moving average, Krinsky noted.
Further, since 1990, Friday’s session was just the third time ever that the S&P 500 had more new lows than highs on a day when the S&P 500 itself made a new high.
“As semis and tech continue to push higher, the debate around whether it's sustainable or warranted seems to be growing in tandem,” Krinsky wrote. “What started as an AI/semi conversation, however, should now be shifting to the rest of the market. So in addition to asking when does the SOX [Philadelphia Semiconductor Index] top, we should also be asking: why can't anything else rally?”
Moderna (MRNA) stock jumped 8% in premarket trading after the Department of Health and Human Services said that a US national tested positive for the Andes strain of hantavirus and investors began positioning in case the outbreak worsens.
There are currently no approved hantavirus vaccines or treatments, but Moderna said last week it is in the early stages of looking into a hantavirus treatment. In 2023, Moderna signed a research agreement with Korea University to develop an mRNA hantavirus vaccine. It has also been conducting research with the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases.
The positive test for the US national comes as nations scrambled to repatriate passengers of the Hondius cruise ship after a hantavirus outbreak on the ship that has led to three deaths.
Yahoo Finance’s Jake Conley and Myles Udland take a look at the key events for investors this week.
The calendar swings back from a busy earnings season to key releases of inflation data, which has quickly boxed out labor market worries after a week of data showing a steady-enough employment landscape.
April's Consumer Price Index headlines the week on Tuesday, and economists expect price growth to have jumped from 3.3% to 3.8% due to the oil shock. Core CPI, which excludes energy and food, is expected to jump to 2.7% from March's 2.6%.
Wholesale inflation will follow on Wednesday, with retail sales providing a check on the consumer's ability to spend through the pain.
That’s a big week. But we’ll still have a steady trickle of news from medium-size businesses from all corners of the economy, from small nuclear reactor company Oklo (OKLO), Cisco Systems (CSCO), and USA Rare Earth (USAR) to Applied Materials (AMAT) and more.
Reuters reports:
Nintendo's (NTDOY) shares fell 7% in Tokyo on Monday after the company hiked Switch 2 prices and as the market frets over a lack of high-profile games to build momentum.
Nintendo posted robust hardware sales for the financial year ended March but, while the company is known for its conservative forecasts, its outlook for this year underwhelmed the market.
The Kyoto-based firm extended the life of the original Switch with games from franchises such as "The Legend of Zelda" and, while it has scored hits such as "Pokemon Pokopia", it is seen as lacking potential blockbusters.
"The year-on-year decline in game shipment guidance risks signaling that Nintendo lacks confidence in its pipeline," Morningstar analyst Kazunori Ito wrote in a note.
"However, as user engagement typically accelerates in the second year of a console cycle, we view this as too pessimistic," he wrote.
Nintendo also said it would raise prices of its Switch 2, with the Japanese language Switch 2 Japan model to go up by 10,000 yen ($63.73) to 59,980 yen from May 25 and prices in markets such as the U.S. to rise from September 1.
Bloomberg reports:
Oil surged after US President Donald Trump rejected Iran’s latest response to his proposal to end the war in the Middle East, prolonging the effective closure of the crucial Strait of Hormuz.
Brent (BZ=F) crude advanced as much as 3.5% to $104.80 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (CL=F) climbed to near $99. In a social media post, Trump said the response was “TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE” as the two sides struggle to maintain a fragile ceasefire following a series of flareups in hostilities.
The near-closure of Hormuz since the start of the war at the end of February has choked off supplies of crude, natural gas and fuels to global customers, driving up energy prices and raising inflation fears. The International Energy Agency says the conflict is causing the biggest supply shock in history.
Tehran offered to transfer some of its stockpile of highly enriched uranium to a third country, but rejected the idea of dismantling its nuclear facilities, the Wall Street Journal reported. Iran disputed the report, according to the nation’s semi-official news agency Tasnim.
Why This Matters for Exam Students
This USA news is important for students preparing for competitive exams including UPSC, SSC CGL, SSC CHSL, Railway RRB NTPC, IBPS PO, SBI PO and all state PSC examinations. Current affairs and general awareness are key sections in all these exams.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
- When was this news published?
- May 12, 2026
- What is this news about?
- Stock indexes dropped heading into a week that is already facing disruption from the ongoing Iran war.
- Which exams cover this topic?
- UPSC, SSC CGL, SSC CHSL, Railway RRB, IBPS, SBI PO, and all State PSC exams.
- Who reported this news?
- Yahoo Entertainment
Conclusion
Stay updated with the latest USA current affairs on Government Naukri Alert. Bookmark this page and visit daily for fresh exam-relevant news and government job updates.
Source: Yahoo Entertainment
📌 Also Read:
→ Latest Government Jobs 2026
→ Gujarat Government Jobs 2026
