Earnings and lower Crude Oil prices lift Dow Jones Industrial Average

• DJIA reaches a high of more than five weeks before closing near 52,500.
• Falling Treasury yields accompany gains led by UnitedHealth, Amazon, IBM and 3M in points terms.
• Wednesday brings IBM results, followed by Honeywell and Procter & Gamble on Thursday.

Earnings and lower Crude Oil prices helped lift the Dow Jones Industrial Average to its highest level in more than five weeks, while artificial intelligence (AI) shares weighed on the NASDAQ 100. From the opening bell, the Dow advanced to a little above 52,700. A diplomat involved in the US-Iran talks then dismissed reports that a deal was close, sending the index down to around 52,400 within a single five-minute bar. It finished just below 52,500.

The strongest sector was health care in the S&P 500, while UnitedHealth (UNH), Amazon (AMZN), IBM (IBM) and 3M (MMM) made the largest point contributions to the price-weighted Dow. Alongside lifting its 2026 profit outlook to $9.10-$9.15 a share, 3M granted Amazon a warrant for up to 3.2 million shares linked to $6 billion in data centre sales. The point contribution from UnitedHealth, which released results on 13 October, was about three times that of 3M.

A decline in Crude Oil was accompanied by a fall in the 10-year Treasury yield. This came a week after rising yields and concerns about AI debt had left US equities with their worst week since June. On its Seoul debut, Korean AI company Elice lost more than 30%. Nevertheless, Nvidia (NVDA) and Microsoft (MSFT) both gained, limiting the drag on the Dow from selling in AI stocks.

IBM leads a busy run of Dow earnings

Wednesday's IBM results will be followed by a call at 21:00 GMT. Honeywell (HON) and Procter & Gamble (PG) then release their results before Thursday's opening bell, with calls scheduled for 12:30 GMT. Reporting before the market opens on Friday, American Express (AXP) will be the fourth Dow constituent to publish results over three days.

Thursday's initial jobless claims release, due at 12:30 GMT, is forecast to show 200K following 199K. Friday brings the flash Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) surveys from S&P Global at 13:45 GMT; the services reading is forecast at 57.9, down from 58.8. Both releases will inform the Fed's decision on 28 October on whether to increase interest rates again.

Dow regains its 50-day EMA

Having slipped below its 50-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) on Friday and Monday, the Dow closed back above that measure, which now stands near 52,000. Almost half of the decline from August's peak just above 54,700 to the low on 1 October has now been recovered. That low held just above the 200-day EMA near 50,500. For the first time since early July, daily momentum is approaching overbought territory.

Daily DJIA chart