Dow Up More Than 400 Points as Earnings Beats Land and Brent Falls Back From Near $112

Since the U.S.-Iran war began in late February, Brent crude has climbed more than 50%, and October has been a see-saw. Today, Oct. 20, the oil spike faded and corporate earnings carried Wall Street higher. The figures below are intraday, as of late morning and midday trading, not closing numbers.

Oil backs off, stocks follow

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 518 points, or 1%, as of 11:45 a.m. Eastern, according to the Associated Press. CNBC's midday tally had it up 441 points, or 0.9%. The S&P 500 was up 0.3% to 0.4%. The Nasdaq was up between 0.1% and 0.2%.

Indexes opened lower, then recovered. The Dow rebounded 1.5% from its session low, the S&P 500 about 1%, and the Nasdaq 1.6%.

Brent erased an early gain and fell about 1% to $108.43. Earlier in the morning it came within reach of $112, close to its highest price since the war began. Other quotes put it near $107. U.S. West Texas Intermediate was around $103.

Brent has bounced between $97 and $112 a barrel this month, AP noted, on uncertainty over when the energy industry returns to normal. Treasury yields also slipped.

The Trump administration said Monday that a waiver on Russia sanctions could boost diesel supplies and advance peace talks. Attacks on energy infrastructure are continuing.

The earnings that moved stocks

3M gained 5% after reporting adjusted earnings of $2.50 a share against the LSEG estimate of $2.38, and raising its full-year guidance. Northrop Grumman rose about 6% on an earnings beat.

Equifax jumped 11.6% on a bigger summer profit than analysts expected, even as high mortgage rates slowed parts of its business. Hasbro gained 6.1% after saying "Magic: The Gathering" brought in more than $600 million in a single quarter for the first time.

Braze surged 50.9% to $45.32 after Salesforce agreed to buy it for $47.50 in cash per share. Salesforce slipped 1.4%.

Fuel-heavy names benefited from cheaper crude. American Airlines rose 5.1% and United Airlines 3%.

Not every beat was rewarded. General Motors fell 6.5% despite a bigger profit than analysts expected and a buyback of up to $20 billion. Its full-year 2026 profit forecast had a midpoint below analyst expectations. GE Aerospace was also down about 2%.

Separately, TD Cowen's Bill Katz upgraded BlackRock to buy from hold and raised his price target to $1,405, roughly 25% above Monday's close. He cited revenue and operating income running ahead of targets.

AI stocks bounce, but the doubts remain

Last week was the U.S. market's worst since June, driven by AI stocks, AP reported. Panos Mourdoukoutas of the Epoch Times put the Nasdaq's weekly drop at 4.48%.

The worry is about borrowing. Companies are financing huge AI build-outs with debt, and higher interest rates threaten to slow that. Chip stocks have also faced Chinese competition, tight NAND supply and expectations of higher rates.

Tuesday's tone was shaky early. Korean data-center firm Elice fell more than 30% in its Seoul trading debut. SK Hynix dropped 4.23% in Asian trading to its lowest level since April. It is down 31% this month and 59% from its summer peak.

By midday the U.S. chip group had steadied. Micron, Intel and Sandisk each rose roughly 1% to 2%. Seagate gained about 2%, AMD more than 1%, and CoreWeave between 2% and 3%. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF was up nearly 1%.

Jose Torres, senior economist at Interactive Brokers, said moods about technology had improved "as participants drop hedges, after the cost of volatility protection soared intraday on Friday."

Hendi Susanto, a portfolio manager at Gabelli Funds, said last week that AI expectations are "fragile."

Others are more upbeat. Louis Navellier, writing in the Epoch Times, said he expects third-quarter S&P 500 earnings to be up at least 33% when the season ends. He called the negative sentiment "propaganda" that he expects to fade after the midterm elections.

The physical limits on AI buildouts

Bloomberg reported that environmental activists are using their legal fight against Oracle's Project Jupiter data center in New Mexico as a template for challenging other AI projects. Bloomberg's own count found at least 106 U.S. server-farm projects, worth about $198 billion, blocked or delayed by local opposition in the first half of 2026.

Permit disputes over water, air quality and gas infrastructure have slowed Oracle's plans. The company has sought changes to address the environmental concerns. Activists are also targeting projects by Amazon, Google and Elon Musk's xAI.

What to watch

More earnings are due this week, and investors are looking to them for evidence that heavy AI spending can be sustained. Oil remains the open question. Brent came within a few dollars of its war-time high and pulled back within hours, and neither the Iran talks nor the sanctions waiver has yet settled where it goes next.