Dow Jones Today: DJIA Holds Steady as Oil Climbs; Tech Stocks Lose Momentum

The Dow Jones (DJIA) is trading lower on Thursday amid a rally in oil prices and pressure in the tech sector.

Brent crude oil (BZ) rallied in early morning trading after Reuters reported that Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei refused to transfer its stockpile of highly enriched uranium out of the country, a key demand of the U.S. for resolving the war. However, a senior Iranian official later denied the validity of the report, labeling it as “enemy propaganda.” Brent eased lower following the official’s statement, although it remains positive on the day.

Elsewhere, Iran and Oman are in talks over a framework to establish a permanent toll system for vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz, according to Bloomberg. The global oil chokepoint has remained at a near standstill since the onset of the U.S.-Iran war on February 28 amid threats of attacks from Tehran. Fees from a toll system would likely filter through to consumers, lifting shipping costs and supporting higher energy prices.

“This will entail costs, and it goes without saying that those who wish to benefit from this traffic must also pay their share,” said Mohammad Amin-Nejad, the Iranian ambassador to France, on Wednesday.

Finally, initial jobless claims for the week ended May 16 fell by 3,000 to 209,000, below the consensus estimate of 210,000. Continuing jobless claims, which trail initial claims by a week, rose by 6,000 to 1.782 million, below the estimate of 1.786 million. Initial jobless claims serve as a gauge of layoffs, while continuing jobless claims track the number of people receiving unemployment benefits and reflect ongoing unemployment.

The Dow Jones is down by 0.21% at the time of writing.

Which Stocks are Moving the Dow Jones?

Let’s pivot to TipRanks’ Dow Jones Heatmap, which illustrates the stocks that have contributed to the index’s price action.

Nvidia (NVDA) is the worst performing tech stock on Thursday, despite its first-quarter earnings beating on both revenue and adjusted EPS. Microsoft (MSFT) is trading lower amid a positive headline, with The Information reporting that Anthropic is considering using the tech giant’s Maia AI chips. On the other hand, IBM (IBM) is surging higher after receiving a $1 billion quantum computing grant from the Commerce Department.

Elsewhere, Walmart (WMT) is deep in the red after the retailer issued disappointing guidance for fiscal year 2027 attributed to higher gas prices and the waning, beneficial effects of tax returns.

Is the Dow Jones a Good Long-Term Investment?

The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (DIA) is an exchange-traded fund designed to track the movement of the Dow Jones. As a result, DIA is falling alongside the Dow Jones today.

Wall Street believes that DIA stock has room to rise. During the past three months, analysts have issued an average DIA price target of $566.74, implying upside of 13.53% from current prices. The 30 holdings in DIA carry 30 buy ratings, zero hold ratings, and zero sell ratings.