The S&P 500 added 0.6% to its all-time high set the day before after drifting between small gains and losses in the morning. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 24 points or less than 0.1% and the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.9% as both indexes also set records.

Stocks turned higher after oil prices gave back most of their morning gains, following reports of a tentative U.S.-Iran agreement still awaiting President Trump's approval. Benchmark U.S. crude settled at $88.90 per barrel, retreating from an overnight high above $92.50. Oil prices have been swinging as hopes rise and fall over a potential deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and restore Persian Gulf crude flows to customers worldwide.

The volatility has been enough to push a key U.S. inflation measure to its worst level in three years, roughly in line with economists' expectations. Yet despite concerns over costly oil and elevated inflation, the U.S. stock market has surged to record highs, driven by strong corporate earnings. Companies have been routinely topping analyst expectations for Q1 2026, and since stock prices tend to follow corporate profits over the long term, investor confidence has remained resilient.

Dollar Tree soared 17.9% after it became the latest to report fatter profit than analysts expected. CEO Mike Creedon said improved store conditions helped the retailer make more profit off each $1 in sales during the latest quarter despite tariffs adding to its costs. Kohl's rallied 20.6% after the retailer reported better results for the latest quarter than analysts had feared, while Best Buy climbed 15.8% following its own better-than-expected profit report. Hormel Foods climbed 12.5% after a strong performance for its Jennie-O ground turkey and exports of Spam luncheon meat helped it report a better profit than analysts expected.

Snowflake rose 36.5% after saying artificial intelligence continues to be a strong driver for its business, and profit and revenue for the latest quarter exceeded expectations. They helped offset a dip for Salesforce, which fell 0.8% even though it also reported a better profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Its stock has been under pressure because of worries that AI-powered rivals could steal away its business, even as Salesforce touts its own AI offerings.

In stock markets abroad, indexes dipped across much of Europe and Asia. Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 1.3% for one of the world's larger losses.

In the bond market, Treasury yields eased after oil prices gave up much of their gains and reduced the upward pressure on inflation. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.45% from 4.48% late Wednesday.

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