S&P 500, Nasdaq, close slightly higher in cautious start to a heavy earnings week

S&P 500, Nasdaq, close slightly higher in cautious start to a heavy earnings week

By Stephen Culp and Niket Nishant

Mon April 27, 2026  

There isn’t a whole lot of agreement on sentiment right now with the markets going in all different directions given the plethora of news coming this week. All the indexes opened in the red posting 3-digit losses until about 1 pm. Then everything but the Dow went into the black for the two tech indexes to close marginally higher but any plus meant a new record. The S&P in fact is now at a record high equivalent to doubling its value in the last 3-1/2 years. The question is if earnings will justify all these new records. So far, so good, with 28% of S&P companies reporting and 81% beating estimates.  

S&P 500, Nasdaq close at records on tech lift, Iran peace talk hopes

S&P 500, Nasdaq close at records on tech lift, Iran peace talk hopes

By Chuck Mikolajczak and Niket Nishant

Fri April 24, 2026

Two key events that likely happened right after the open were Iran sending their foreign minister to Pakistan to try to restart peace talks and the DOJ dropping the investigation again Powell. As all the indexes opened near flat but then almost immediately started zooming up and up until 12 pm, at which time they leveled off and remained steady the rest of the day resulting in a nice 3-digit gain on the Nasdaq and putting both tech indexes at four consecutive weeks of gains, their longest streak in over a year.  

Stocks close lower on fading hopes for quick Iran deal, mixed quarterly earnings

Stocks close lower on fading hopes for quick Iran deal, mixed quarterly earnings

By Chuck Mikolajczak and Niket Nishant

Thu April 23, 2026

At 1 pm there was a drastic plunge in all the indexes, the Dow down over 600 by 2 pm as news came to an already war-weary and skeptical market that one of Iran’s key negotiators had resigned and further fell when oil prices rose on reports of renewed air attacks on Iran. But by 2 pm, as investors have been inclined to do, war news went on the back burner and the focus returned to the very strong Q1.

S&P, Nasdaq close at records on Iran ceasefire extension, earnings

S&P, Nasdaq close at records on Iran ceasefire extension, earnings

By Chuck Mikolajczak and Niket Nishant

Wed April 22, 2026

Yesterday, sentiment switched to being about the war with the expert saying, “it’s baffling to me that people think it’s going to be okay.” But with Trump’s after-hours announcement of an indefinite extension of the ceasefire, the market got its wish as all three indexes skyrocketed right out the gate and all three closing with all new record highs. So once again investors get to focus on Q1 earnings which continue to come in strong. Today’s sentiment on the war has switched to, “Everyone’s kind of sick of it … clearly the market is looking for a beneficial outcome.” 

Wall Street falls as Middle East concerns offset earnings optimism

Wall Street falls as Middle East concerns offset earnings optimism

By Chuck Mikolajczak and Niket Nishant

Tue April 21, 2026  

Wall Street optimism dominated the opening with all three indexes well into gains, the Dow up some 400 by 10 a.m. Up until now, war news has been shrugged off in favor of solid Q1 earnings but today that flipped. Despite another round of solid Q1, focus today went to the war with the markets declining after 10 a.m. and for the rest of the session to close with substantial 3-digit losses. Some of this was triggered by the news of Vance not going to Pakistan after all.  

Wall Street closes slightly down on renewed tensions between US, Iran

Wall Street closes slightly down on renewed tensions between US, Iran

By Chuck Mikolajczak and Purvi Agarwal

Mon April 20, 2026

It was pretty predictable that after the ceasefire more or less fell apart over the weekend and the Strait of Hormuz closed again after only one day, that the market would drop and the only wonder was that it didn’t drop a whole lot more. But as we’ve seen, investors are taking the war news pretty much in stride and are staying a lot more optimistic than otherwise. Indeed, all the indexes did drop quite a lot this morning, the Dow down over 200 by 11 a.m., but then, though quite choppy, all three recovered throughout the session, to close with only minor losses.  

Wall Street indexes hit record highs as oil falls with Strait of Hormuz declared open

Wall Street indexes hit record highs as oil falls with Strait of Hormuz declared open

By Sinéad Carew and Niket Nishant

Fri April 17, 2026

With Iran’s announcement that the Strait of Hormuz would now be open and Trump’s announcement that a peace deal could be reached as early as this weekend (though not yet confirmed by Iran), the markets exploded for a third consecutive day of new record highs. Oil plunged 11% which pacified investors that the concern about oil blowing up inflation was diminishing.