{"id":62387,"date":"2026-05-26T17:38:53","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T21:38:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/nasdaq-and-sp-500-reach-record-highs-on-us-iran-peace-hopes-and-ai-sector-surge\/62387\/"},"modified":"2026-05-26T17:38:53","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T21:38:53","slug":"nasdaq-and-sp-500-reach-record-highs-on-us-iran-peace-hopes-and-ai-sector-surge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/nasdaq-and-sp-500-reach-record-highs-on-us-iran-peace-hopes-and-ai-sector-surge\/62387\/","title":{"rendered":"Nasdaq and S&#038;P 500 Reach Record Highs on US-Iran Peace Hopes and AI Sector Surge"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Nasdaq Composite<\/strong> and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/indices\/sp500\/today\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"snp500 today\">S&amp;P 500<\/a><\/strong> indices closed at all-time record highs of <strong>26,648.95<\/strong> and <strong>7,519.26<\/strong>, respectively, fueled by geopolitical optimism and a massive rally in technology.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Micron Technology (<a href=\"\/stock\/MU\">MU<\/a>)<\/strong> shares surged nearly <strong>20%<\/strong>, briefly pushing the company\u2019s market capitalization above <strong>$1 trillion<\/strong> following a landmark price-target increase from <strong>UBS<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Qualcomm (<a href=\"\/stock\/QCOM\">QCOM<\/a>)<\/strong> secured a significant deal to supply millions of AI data-center chips to <strong>ByteDance<\/strong>, marking a major expansion into AI infrastructure.<\/li>\n<li><strong>USTR Jamieson Greer<\/strong> confirmed the <strong>Trump administration<\/strong> has no interest in reinstating tariff exclusion programs, maintaining a hardline stance on <strong>Chinese investment<\/strong> and trade.<\/li>\n<li><strong>NASA<\/strong> awarded more than <strong>$700 million<\/strong> in combined contracts to <strong>Blue Origin<\/strong>, <strong>Astrolab<\/strong>, and <strong>Lunar Outpost<\/strong> for the development of lunar rovers and terrain vehicles.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The <strong>Nasdaq Composite (<a href=\"\/stock\/%5EIXIC\">^IXIC<\/a>)<\/strong> and <strong>S&amp;P 500 (<a href=\"\/stock\/%5EGSPC\">^GSPC<\/a>)<\/strong> climbed to fresh record closing highs on Tuesday as investors grew increasingly optimistic about a potential <strong>US-Iran peace agreement<\/strong>. The <strong>Nasdaq<\/strong> gained <strong>1.16%<\/strong> to finish at <strong>26,648.95<\/strong>, while the <strong>S&amp;P 500<\/strong> rose <strong>0.61%<\/strong> to <strong>7,519.26<\/strong>, surpassing previous records set on May 14.<\/p>\n<p>Optimism regarding a diplomatic resolution in the Middle East outweighed renewed military activity near the <strong>Strait of Hormuz<\/strong>, with investors betting that the conflict\u2019s worst economic risks may be easing. <em>The rally was supported by falling oil prices and declining Treasury yields<\/em>, which helped temper inflation concerns and led traders to scale back expectations for aggressive <strong>Federal Reserve<\/strong> tightening.<\/p>\n<p>The technology sector led the day&#39;s gains, spearheaded by a historic performance from <strong>Micron Technology (<a href=\"\/stock\/MU\">MU<\/a>)<\/strong>. Shares of the memory chipmaker skyrocketed after <strong>UBS<\/strong> raised its price target to <strong>$1,625<\/strong>, citing a structural shift in the industry driven by AI demand. <strong>Micron<\/strong> briefly surpassed a <strong>$1 trillion market valuation<\/strong> during the session, reinforcing the continued momentum in the semiconductor sector.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Qualcomm (<a href=\"\/stock\/QCOM\">QCOM<\/a>)<\/strong> also saw significant gains following reports that it secured a deal to supply millions of AI data-center chips to <strong>ByteDance<\/strong>. The partnership is a pivotal win for <strong>Qualcomm<\/strong>, as it seeks to diversify its revenue streams beyond the smartphone market and establish a stronger foothold in the booming AI infrastructure space.<\/p>\n<p>In Washington, <strong>U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer<\/strong> provided clarity on the administration\u2019s trade policy during a <strong>CFR event<\/strong>. Greer stated that <strong>Chinese investment<\/strong> in the U.S. will continue to be reviewed on a <strong>case-by-case basis<\/strong> and emphasized that the <strong>Trump administration<\/strong> is not interested in reviving tariff exclusion programs.<\/p>\n<p>Greer further noted that <strong>Section 301 investigations<\/strong> will seek public comments on any proposed measures, while the U.S. intends to improve <strong>Africa growth deals<\/strong>. These efforts are aimed at better aligning African economies with the U.S. to counter rival global influences.<\/p>\n<p>On the aerospace front, <strong>NASA<\/strong> announced a series of major contract awards for its upcoming lunar missions. <strong>Blue Origin<\/strong> received a contract worth up to <strong>$280.4 million<\/strong> for <strong>Moon South Pole rover<\/strong> missions, while <strong>Astrolab<\/strong> and <strong>Lunar Outpost<\/strong> were awarded approximately <strong>$219 million<\/strong> and <strong>$220 million<\/strong>, respectively, for the first phase of <strong>Lunar Terrain Vehicles (LTVs)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>In other political developments, <strong>President Trump<\/strong> announced that a scheduled <strong>Cabinet meeting<\/strong> was moved to the <strong>White House<\/strong> due to inclement weather, resulting in the postponement of a planned trip to <strong>Camp David<\/strong>. Separately, an <strong>SEC filing<\/strong> showed that the <strong>BlackRock Private Credit Fund<\/strong>, managed by <strong>BlackRock (<a href=\"\/stock\/BLK\">BLK<\/a>)<\/strong>, sold <strong>376,795 institutional class shares<\/strong> for <strong>$8.91 million<\/strong> earlier this month.<\/p>\n<p>The <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/indices\/dowjones\/today\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Dow Jones Today\">Dow Jones<\/a> Industrial Average (<a href=\"\/stock\/%5EDJI\">^DJI<\/a>)<\/strong> was the only major index to finish in the red, falling <strong>0.22%<\/strong> to <strong>50,466.15<\/strong>. <em>The divergence highlighted a clear market preference for high-growth AI and technology stocks<\/em> over traditional blue-chip equities as the broader market reached new heights.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Takeaways Nasdaq Composite and S&amp;P 500 indices closed at all-time record highs of 26,648.95 and 7,519.26, respectively, fueled by [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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