12:06 PM EDT, 08/04/2026 (MT Newswires) -- All three major US stock indexes were up in late-morning trading Tuesday, as investors grew more optimistic on a potential deal between the US and Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

The US and Iran could reach a deal Tuesday or Wednesday to reopen the Strait of Hormuz for commercial ships, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Tuesday in an interview with CNBC.

In company news, Palantir Technologies ( PLTR ) reported Q2 adjusted earnings late Monday of $0.41 per diluted share, above the FactSet consensus estimate of $0.34. Second-quarter revenue was $1.94 billion, up from $1.00 billion a year earlier and above the FactSet consensus of $1.81 billion. For Q3, the company expects revenue of $2.160 billion to $2.164 billion, above the FactSet consensus of $2.00 billion. For full-year 2026, the company expects revenue of $8.150 billion to $8.158 billion, above its previous guidance of $7.650 billion to $7.662 billion and above the FactSet consensus of $7.725 billion. Palantir ( PLTR ) shares were up 27.2% around midday.

Caterpillar ( CAT ) reported Q2 adjusted profit of $8.17 per share, up from $4.72 a year earlier and above the FactSet consensus of $6.22. Total Q2 sales and revenue were $20.54 billion, up from $16.57 billion a year ago and above the FactSet consensus of $19.34 billion. Caterpillar ( CAT ) shares were up 6.5%.

Anthropic has signed a $10 billion deal for computing capacity with Volta Infra, a new infrastructure startup backed by Nvidia ( NVDA ) , Bloomberg reported Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter. Separately, Blackstone (BX) has held early talks with investors to assess their interest in a second massive debt package to finance Anthropic's use of chips from Alphabet's (GOOG, GOOGL) Google ( GOOG ), Bloomberg reported, citing people with knowledge of the matter. One early proposal was for at least $36 billion, but the size, structure and whether Blackstone will lead the financing remain unknown, the report said, citing the people. Nvidia ( NVDA ) shares were up 2%. Blackstone shares were up 1.5%, while Alphabet Class C and Class A shares were up 0.2% and 0.5%, respectively.

Amazon.com ( AMZN ) founder Jeff Bezos indicated plans to sell 15 million shares of the company valued at $4.07 billion, according to a regulatory filing. Separately, Amazon ( AMZN ) was sued Tuesday by New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport, who accused the online retailer of abusing its market power over independent delivery drivers, Davenport's office confirmed to MT Newswires. Amazon ( AMZN ) shares were down 2.2%.

McDonald's (MCD) reported Q2 non-GAAP diluted EPS Tuesday of $3.38, up from $3.19 a year earlier and above the FactSet consensus of $3.32. Total Q2 revenue was $7.10 billion, up from $6.84 billion a year ago but below the FactSet consensus of $7.13 billion. The company said Skye Anderson was appointed as president of McDonald's USA, effective Tuesday, succeeding Joe Erlinger. McDonald's shares were up 1.5%.

Merck ( MRK ) reported a Q2 non-GAAP loss Tuesday of $0.13 per share, swinging from earnings of $2.13 per share a year earlier but narrower than the FactSet consensus of a loss of $0.27 per share. Second-quarter sales were $16.61 billion, up from $15.81 billion a year ago and above the FactSet consensus of $16.37 billion. For full-year 2026, the company expects non-GAAP EPS of $2.66 to $2.76, below its prior outlook of $5.04 to $5.16 and below the FactSet consensus of $2.79. Merck ( MRK ) shares were down 1.1%.

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