The Prime Daily: 05 August 2026

Authored By Prime Research | Last Modified: Aug 5, 2026 09:55 AM IST

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U.S. Stocks Hit Record Highs on Earnings Strength, Easing Oil Prices

The US markets closed at record highs Tuesday, with the S&P 500 up 1.8% its first record close since June and the Nasdaq Composite up 2.6%, now nearly 9% higher since last Wednesday.

Strong corporate earnings, a 4% rally in technology stocks, and falling oil prices drove the advance, while easing expectations for aggressive Fed rate hikes added further support.

Earnings are the session’s biggest driver of the rally. Microsoft shares surged 25% over three days on blowout Q4 FY26 results, with Azure revenue nearing a $100 billion annual run rate and Copilot surpassing 30 million paid seats.

Palantir Technologies jumped nearly 30% after beating quarterly expectations and raising full-year revenue guidance, while Caterpillar climbed more than 5% to lead the Dow on record revenue, an upgraded growth outlook, and strong equipment demand tied to the AI data-center buildout; the company also trimmed its full-year tariff-cost guidance to the lower end of its prior range.

McDonald’s shares slipped after U.S. sales growth came in weaker than expected following an underwhelming value-deal push.

SpaceX drew attention as short interest spiked to elevated levels ahead of earnings, with Musk warning short sellers and the company flagging higher-than-expected AI infrastructure spending; separately, SpaceX reported a $4.9 billion loss last year, split between a $542 million operating loss in its launch business which depends heavily on Defense Department and NASA contracts — and a $1.26 billion loss in its AI unit, formed via the February merger with xAI, partly offset by $1.66 billion in operating income from its connectivity business.

Oil prices fell sharply after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said a U.S.–Iran deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to commercial shipping could be reached within a day.

Brent crude oil dropped more than 5%, three-week low, below $80. The moves followed President Trump’s weekend comments that he had called off a planned strike on Iran to allow room for negotiations.

The de-escalation also pulled the 10-year Treasury yield down to 4.62%, as markets lowered the odds of a September Fed rate cut hike.

In currency markets, the dollar weakened broadly, with EUR/USD approaching $1.15, while the yen traded near 157 per dollar.

The Indian rupee depreciated 4 paise to close at 95.38, moving in line with its Asian peers as and a firmer US dollar weighed on the currency. Participants awaited the Reserve Bank of India’s monetary policy outcome for further direction today.

Nifty saw a sharp 150-point spike in the closing auction session (CAS), aided by more than 1% moves in more than ten Nifty stocks.

Nifty remains in an overall uptrend, trading above all key moving averages. Immediate resistance is placed near 24,770, while support is seen at 24,375, aligned with the 200-day EMA.

Our Markets are poised to open higher today on the back of falling crude prices and buoyant US market cues.

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Disclaimer

At HDFC SKY*, we take utmost care and due diligence in curating and presenting news and market-related content. However, inadvertent errors or omissions may occasionally occur.
If you have any concerns, questions, or wish to point out any discrepancies in our content, please feel free to write to us at content@hdfcsec.com.
Please Note: The information shared is intended solely for informational purposes and does not make any investment recommendations.
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