Midday pulse, April 23, 2026: S&P 500 -0.71%, Nasdaq -1.01% as Hormuz tensions lift Brent to $103

NEW YORK, April 23, 2026 — U.S. equity markets retreated sharply into the midday session Thursday, with the S&P 500 down 0.71%, the Nasdaq Composite off 1.01%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lower by 0.77%, and the Russell 2000 declining approximately 0.55% from Wednesday’s close — a broad reversal that erased a meaningful portion of the prior session’s gains. The selloff, which extended losses from the opening bell, was driven by a sharp escalation in geopolitical risk centred on the Strait of Hormuz, compounding pressure from a cluster of disappointing or high-multiple technology earnings reports.

What is driving the tape

The dominant theme across the tape on Thursday is a simultaneous shock to both the energy supply outlook and technology valuations — a combination that historically tests risk appetite in a pronounced way. A renewed standoff over the Strait of Hormuz sent Brent crude surging to $103 per barrel, its highest level in months, stoking fresh fears that prolonged closure of the waterway could accelerate inflation and slow global economic growth at precisely the moment investors had begun to price in a more benign macro path.

That geopolitical backdrop arrived atop a crowded earnings calendar that delivered several high-profile disappointments or guidance-induced revaluations in technology and software. As Thursday’s premarket roundup noted, S&P 500 futures were already under pressure before the open as Iran peace talks stalled and Tesla’s capital expenditure projections unsettled growth investors. The morning’s jobless claims print of 207,000 — a beat versus consensus — provided only brief relief, as participants quickly refocused on the geopolitical and earnings-driven negatives.

On the broader earnings season, the fundamental backdrop remains constructive: of the 87 S&P 500 companies that have reported results so far, 81% have beaten earnings estimates and 76% have topped revenue expectations, according to aggregated analyst data. Yet midday price action underscores a recurring theme of this cycle — that even solid results are being punished when they arrive alongside elevated capital expenditure guidance or valuations that leave little margin for error.

Data Visual

Midday movers: key stocks Apr 23

Shows the percentage change at midday for the session’s most notable individual stock movers, illustrating the sharp divergence between technology losers and industrial gainers.

Values in %

Standout midday movers

Top loser: Salesforce (CRM) and the technology unwind

Salesforce (CRM) was the session’s most prominent decliner, falling 8.88% to $172.95 at midday, as investors reassessed whether current profit growth trajectories can sustain the premium multiples embedded across enterprise software. The selling was not isolated: ServiceNow (NOW) dropped 13% and IBM (IBM) fell 7.94% to $232.19 following its quarterly earnings report. IBM’s results, while broadly in line, prompted valuation concerns that outweighed headline beat metrics. Goldman Sachs and Bank of America both reiterated buy ratings on IBM following the print, but Goldman cut its price target to $335 from $365, reflecting a more cautious near-term revenue growth assumption. The magnitude of the intraday declines in software names suggests institutional repositioning rather than retail-driven panic, with options flow consistent with protective hedging activity across the sector.

Tesla (TSLA) added to the negative tone, reversing early session gains to trade approximately 3% lower after Chief Executive Elon Musk projected a substantial surge in capital expenditures — flagging $25 billion in spending for full-year 2026. The guidance crystallised concerns that near-term free cash flow generation will be materially constrained even as the competitive landscape in electric vehicles intensifies.

Top gainer: Caterpillar (CAT) anchors industrial resilience

Caterpillar (CAT) led the S&P 500 gainers at midday, advancing 3.81% to $840.26 on stronger-than-expected industrial demand data that reinforced the narrative of infrastructure and heavy equipment cycle durability. United Rentals (URI) also surged meaningfully after the world’s largest equipment rental company posted robust quarterly results and raised its full-year guidance, signalling that end-market demand from construction and energy customers remains firm despite broader macro uncertainty. The contrast between the industrial sector’s performance and technology’s implosion was the session’s defining rotation trade.

Data Visual

Major index midday performance Apr 23

Displays the midday percentage change across all four major U.S. equity indices, showing broad-based selling pressure led by Nasdaq growth stocks.

Values in %

Sector rotation check

The session’s sector dynamics reveal a clear defensive and cyclical tilt away from growth and duration. Technology was the session’s hardest-hit sector, weighed by the IBM, ServiceNow, Salesforce, and Tesla declines, with the sector tracking losses in excess of 1.5% versus the open. Communication services were similarly under pressure as investors trimmed exposure to high-multiple names ahead of a volatile close.

Industrials stood out as the clearest outperformer, with Caterpillar and United Rentals providing enough upward momentum to push the sector into positive territory versus the open — a notable divergence in a session characterised by broad-based equity weakness. Energy was also a relative outperformer, benefiting directly from Brent’s surge to $103, with upstream producers and integrated majors advancing on the improved realised price environment. Consumer discretionary faced headwinds from the Tesla decline, while financials traded mixed, with regional banks slightly lower on rate uncertainty following the Fed nominee commentary and airlines pressured by American Airlines’ (AAL) significant guidance cut — the carrier now projecting an adjusted full-year result ranging from a loss of 40 cents per share to earnings of $1.10 per share, down sharply from its January forecast of $1.70 to $2.70 per share.

What to watch into the close

With roughly two and a half hours remaining in the regular session, several factors will determine whether equities stabilise or extend losses toward the closing bell.

The Federal Reserve calendar is clear for Thursday — no scheduled speakers — leaving the tape without a domestic monetary policy catalyst. Fed chair nominee Kevin Warsh’s Senate confirmation hearing testimony earlier this week, in which he stated he would not act as a political instrument on interest rate decisions, continues to be parsed by fixed income markets for implications on the policy independence premium embedded in Treasury yields.

As noted in this morning’s opening bell report, GEV and CMCSA were notable earnings movers at the open, and after-hours tonight will bring additional reporters that could reset sector sentiment heading into Friday’s session. Participants will also monitor whether the Russell 2000’s relative resilience — small-caps are down more modestly than large-cap growth — persists into the close, as that dynamic would suggest the selloff remains concentrated in premium-valued large technology rather than a broader risk-off rotation.

Wednesday’s session, detailed in the April 22 market close report, saw the S&P 500 gain 1.05% to 7,137.90 on ceasefire extension optimism and strong earnings momentum — making Thursday’s reversal a textbook geopolitical risk premium reassertion rather than a deterioration of the underlying earnings cycle.

The afternoon setup is asymmetric: the path to recovery runs through either a Hormuz de-escalation headline or a stabilisation in high-multiple technology names, while the path to further losses is well-paved by the current trajectory of oil, the IBM and ServiceNow post-earnings resets, and an absence of scheduled positive catalysts before the 4 PM ET bell. Tactical participants will be watching the S&P 500’s ability to hold above the 7,080–7,100 range as a near-term structural support zone into the final hour of trade.