The S&P 500 closed at 7,519.12 on Tuesday — a new all-time record. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 26,656.18 — also a record. Both confirmed at 4 PM ET, the first full US trading session after Memorial Day, and the first to price the dual-track of simultaneous US-Iran military operations and diplomatic progress. Technology led. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 118 points, or 0.23%, as energy and industrial names lagged throughout the session. Two markets settled in two different places.
Tuesday did not reward everything equally. Bitcoin closed at $75,964 — $36 below the $76,000 monthly close trigger with four days remaining before end of May (BTC trades 24/7). Zscaler (ZS) fell 17% after hours despite an earnings per share (EPS) beat of $0.04, as markets processed a free cash flow (FCF) guidance cut that overrode the headline numbers. Records in equities. A trigger missed in crypto. A guidance cut penalized in software.
Zscaler fell ~17% after hours on an FCF margin guidance cut. Full analysis in the Earnings section.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq both set confirmed all-time record closes, each exceeding the prior marks set May 13. Technology drove the advance: Micron held the bulk of its session gains, Alphabet added 1%, Broadcom gained 3%. The Dow fell 0.23% as Exxon Mobil shed 1.9%, IBM declined 2.73%, and Cisco lost 1.43% — a direct read on the market’s view that the deal trade benefits artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, not energy or industrials.
The Russell 2000 gained 1.79% — outpacing the S&P by 118 basis points (bp). Small-cap outperformance on a record-close day signals genuine appetite expansion beyond passive mega-cap flows. AutoZone, which reported a mixed quarter before the open — EPS of $38.07 beating estimates by 5.3% against a 0.6% revenue miss — reflected the broader consumer bifurcation: operational efficiency intact, top-line demand still under war-inflation pressure.
The Cboe Volatility Index (VIX) closed at 17.01, up 2.53% on the same day the S&P set a record. A VIX rising alongside record equities reflects simultaneous positioning for both a deal-confirmation rally and a Camp David escalation selloff. The options market is not choosing a scenario. It is pricing both.
High-level Iranian and Qatari delegations met in Doha on Tuesday, with Trump administration negotiators participating remotely. The talks continued without pause despite Monday night’s US strikes on Iranian missile sites and mine-laying boats near Bandar Abbas — a signal that both sides are treating the dual-track as a feature, not a breakdown.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry confirmed the 14-point memorandum under discussion “is focused on ending the war,” including provisions on the Strait of Hormuz. If the framework is agreed, a 60-day window for nuclear discussions follows. Rubio indicated deal wording may take additional days. Trump’s Camp David Cabinet meeting Wednesday is the next hard deadline on the diplomatic calendar.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened Israel’s security cabinet Tuesday evening — its first meeting since reports emerged of a developing US-Iran agreement. Two Israeli sources told CNN that Netanyahu has privately acknowledged having limited influence over Washington’s decision-making, even as Israeli officials describe the emerging deal as a “bad idea.”
Israel’s core concern: the deal as currently understood leaves Iran’s nuclear stockpile and its enriched uranium disposition unresolved. The 60-day nuclear negotiation window that follows any framework agreement is not, from Israel’s perspective, a solution — it is a deferral. Jerusalem’s security cabinet is a new diplomatic actor in a negotiation it was not party to.
West Texas Intermediate settled near $92.50 at the close — down 4.24% on the session — while Brent crude closed at $96.53, a 3.67% decline. Both benchmarks are now more than 10% below their levels at the start of last week. The deal-trade thesis is confirmed at the close: markets are pricing Hormuz reopening before it happens, with each day of deal-optimism compressing the war premium further.
The US naval blockade of Iranian ports formally remains active. Trump confirmed it stays until a framework is signed. Even after a signature, physical oil flow normalization requires Hormuz to reopen, the blockade to lift, and tanker routing to stabilize — a sequencing that Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has said will not restore full flows before Q1–Q2 2027. Tuesday’s oil close prices a deal. The barrel market will price the barrel when tankers move.
| Market | Close | Session Context |
|---|---|---|
🇯🇵 Japan — Nikkei 225 Asia · Closed |
–0.25% |
64,996.09. Muted Asia session ahead of first post-Memorial Day US open. Strike news weighed on risk appetite overnight in Tokyo. |
🇭🇰 Hong Kong — Hang Seng Asia · Closed |
–0.03% |
25,599.45. Near flat; China stimulus watch ongoing. Hong Kong trading muted on no clear directional catalyst from the region. |
🇰🇷 South Korea — KOSPI Asia · Closed |
+2.55% |
8,047.51. Strongest session in the global EM table. Deal optimism drove AI semiconductor names: Samsung Electronics +2.56%, SK Hynix +6.49%. KOSPI hit a 52-week intraday high of 8,131.15 before closing near the top of the range. |
🇨🇳 China — Shanghai Composite Asia · Closed |
–0.12% |
4,148. Near flat; small energy-sector drag offset AI and tech names. China continued to absorb deal-optimism signals but the muted session reflected cautious domestic sentiment. |
🇩🇪 Germany — DAX Europe · Closed |
–0.69% |
25,213.05. Reversed from morning gap-up. US military strikes on Iran added risk-off pressure through the European session despite deal-optimism open. |
🇫🇷 France — CAC 40 Europe · Closed |
–0.94% |
8,180.75. Energy-heavy composition amplified decline. CAC underperformed DAX on oil sector drag as deal-trade pressured European energy names. |
🇬🇧 United Kingdom — FTSE 100 Europe · Closed |
+0.44% |
10,512.51. Only major European index to close positive. FTSE’s lower energy weighting and defensive composition provided relative insulation from oil-sector selling. |
🇧🇷 Brazil — Ibovespa EM Americas · Closed |
–0.69% |
176,589.03. Ignored Wall Street’s record closes. US military strikes on Iran opened Tuesday with risk-off for Brazilian markets despite deal optimism; Petrobras pressured as oil fell; dollar rose to R$5.02. Brazil had rallied +0.82% on Monday when US markets were closed and deal optimism was unchallenged. |
Bitcoin closed Tuesday at $75,964.03 — $36 below the $76,000 monthly close trigger with four days remaining before May 30 (BTC trades 24/7). The session began with BTC at $76,754 and ended below the trigger level for the first time since Sunday’s recovery. The equity market set two records on Tuesday. Crypto did not participate.
The divergence is structural. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq record closes were driven by AI-infrastructure flows — a sector rotation that does not automatically carry through to digital assets. Bitcoin’s fear and greed index remained in Fear territory even as equities pressed higher. ETF inflows that appeared to be stabilizing this morning reversed through the session. Four days remain (BTC trades 24/7). A close above $76,000 on May 30 is still achievable — but Tuesday’s confirmed close has moved the trigger from approaching to at-risk.
Zscaler reported Q3 FY2026 results after the close Tuesday. Revenue of $850 million grew 25% year-over-year and came in above the high end of its own guidance — but missed the Street estimate of $860 million. Non-GAAP earnings per share (EPS) of $1.08 beat the $1.04 consensus by $0.04. Annual recurring revenue (ARR) reached $3.5 billion, growing 25% year-over-year with net new ARR of $166 million. Non-GAAP operating margin hit 23% — an all-time high for the company.
The market’s response was unambiguous: shares fell approximately 17% in after-hours trading. The driver was the fiscal year free cash flow margin guidance, cut from 26.5%–27% to 22.8%–23.3%. Q4 revenue guidance also came in slightly below analyst expectations. In cloud software, free cash flow margin is the credibility metric — it signals whether a company can grow without continuously diluting shareholders. Zscaler guided lower. The stock priced it immediately.
AutoZone reported Q3 FY2026 results before Tuesday’s open. Net sales of $4.84 billion rose 8.4% year-over-year but came in 0.6% below the $4.87 billion estimate. Earnings per share of $38.07 beat the $36.17 consensus by 5.3%. Same-store sales rose 5.5% in total — 4.1% domestic and 16.6% international. Free cash flow margin improved sharply to 25.6% from 9.5% a year ago, and the company repurchased $586.3 million in stock during the quarter.
The AutoZone result is a direct read on the war-inflation consumer. With two-thirds of US consumers telling the Conference Board they are cutting purchases due to rising prices, AutoZone’s domestic same-store sales growth of 4.1% reflects sustained demand for automotive maintenance — a category consumers defer later than discretionary spending, if at all. The revenue miss was narrow. The EPS beat and buyback signal operational discipline holding.
| Asset | Close | Change | % Change | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| S&P 500 | 7,519.12 | +45.65 | +0.61% | New all-time record close; beats May 13 prior all-time high (ATH) of 7,501.24 |
| Nasdaq | 26,656.18 | +312.21 | +1.19% | New all-time record close; tech AI leadership confirmed at bell |
| Dow Jones | 50,461.68 | –118.02 | –0.23% | Energy/industrial drag; below May 22 record close of 50,579.70 |
| Russell 2000 | 2,920.54 | +51.31 | +1.79% | Outperformed S&P by 118bp; broad risk appetite confirmed |
| VIX | 17.01 | +0.42 | +2.53% | Rose alongside equity records; hedging for Camp David binary |
| WTI Crude | ~$92.50 | –$4.10 | –4.24% | Deal-trade pricing Hormuz; blockade formally still active |
| Brent Crude | $96.53 | –$3.68 | –3.67% | Down 10%+ from last week; supply normalization being priced |
| Gold | $4,505.20 | –$18.00 | –0.40% | Mild risk-on unwind; deal optimism reducing safe-haven demand |
| 10Y Treasury | ~4.54% | — | — | Steady; Camp David and deal outcome the next bond catalyst |
| Dollar (DXY) | ~98.80 | –0.18 | –0.18% | Continued softening on lower oil and reduced inflation signal |
| Bitcoin | $75,964.03 | –$1,333.23 | –1.72% | Closed $36 below $76K Tom Lee monthly close trigger; 4 days left |
| Ethereum | ~$2,080 | –1.6% | –1.6% | Tracking BTC lower; no independent catalyst; thin volumes |