New Delhi, Oct. 12 -- Wall Street is bracing for what could be one of the most important earnings seasons in years over the coming weeks, as markets confront an unappetizing cocktail of surging bond yields, rising oil prices, and concerns about the fate of the artificial-intelligence investment race.

The S&P 500 is hovering just below record highs, but its performance over the past few months has been distinctly mediocre, with a rise of just 2.4% from the end of May, or 0.6% per month. That compares to the roaring gains over the first five months of the year, which saw the benchmark rise more than 10.7%, for an average monthly gain of around 2.1%.

Curiously, the recent spate of subpar performance has come despite the most explosive earn...