Published May 4, 2026 Updated about 2 hours ago By Reuters NEW YORK: Investors will look for another batch of earnings reports and fresh employment data to drive a resilient US stocks rally higher next week, in the face of spiking oil prices and a more hawkish Federal Reserve. Major US stock indexes were at record-high levels on Thursday, following a sharp month-long rebound from concerns about economic fallout from the Middle East war. A broadly strong season for corporate profits is underpinning bullishness for US equities and countering other market headwinds. The benchmark S&P 500 and the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite both ended April on Thursday with their biggest monthly gains since 2020. The S&P 500 rose more than 10 percent for April, while the Nasdaq jumped over 15 percent. “We have these fast-rising profits on one side, and then on the other, we have upward pressures on oil prices and bond yields,” said Angelo Kourkafas, senior global investment strategist at Edward Jones. “We’ve rallied a lot in April, so potentially we may enter some period of consolidation as this pull and push is playing out.” Stocks this week largely shrugged off a renewed surge in oil prices with benchmark Brent crude topping USD120 a barrel and hitting a four-year high before pulling back. Energy markets were poised to swing on developments in the two-month US-Israeli war with Iran, which has choked off a major supply of oil. While a ceasefire agreement helped catalyze the stock market’s rebound,…