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.

S&P 500, Nasdaq edge up to new records with Middle East hopes in focus

S&P 500, Nasdaq edge up to new records with Middle East hopes in focus

By Sinéad Carew and Niket Nishant

Thu April 16, 2026  

More good Q1 news combined with an Israel-Lebanon ceasefire and a new promise of renewed talks with Iran shot the indexes up for a fourth straight day and though gains were modest on the tech side, any gains meant another record breaking day and the longest Nasdaq winning streak in 17 years. But until the war is actually over, there is still plenty of uncertainty.  

S&P 500, Nasdaq push to closing records on optimism around Middle East talks, earnings

S&P 500, Nasdaq push to closing records on optimism around Middle East talks, earnings 

By Sinéad Carew and Niket Nishant

Wed April 15, 2026

More positive Q1 reports from more banks combined with continued optimism on peace talks injected more confidence in the markets for the third day with both the Nasdaq and S&P reaching new records, the Nasdaq its first since October 29^th. In fact, less than three weeks after Nasdaq signaled its correction it has already rebounded all the correction losses. The loser today was the Dow, down some 250 by 1 pm but then enjoyed its own rebound to close well above that low.  

Wall Street rallies on renewed hopes for US-Iran talks, earnings boost

Wall Street rallies on renewed hopes for US-Iran talks, earnings boost

By Sinéad Carew and Niket Nishant

Tue April 14, 2026  

With talk of the likelihood of resumed peace talks in the next couple days and the U.S. move for talks between Israel and Lebanon, the indexes all shot straight up again. Optimism that we’ve reached peak uncertainty and that a rebound is coming, as today’s expert put it, “Markets are starting to kind of walk away from some of the worst-case scenarios for these events and because valuations have improved over the last couple of weeks and months, investors are buying the dip right now.”  

Wall Street indexes gain as investors hold out hope for US-Iran resolution

Wall Street indexes gain as investors hold out hope for US-Iran resolution

By Sinéad Carew and Niket Nishant

Mon April 13, 2026  

With the Iranian business falling apart over the weekend, it would have been an easy call for the markets to slump today and become a short-sellers fiesta. But that’s what makes the markets fun because exactly the opposite happened. All three indexes opened in the red, the Dow particularly bad at a minus 400, but right around the noon hour, everything started rebounding. Part of this was the on again-off again nature of the negotiations which has left investors immune to the war news. Another part was Trump once again announcing that Iran was back at the table.  

Wall St ends mixed, notches weekly gains as investors parse Middle East negotiations

Wall St ends mixed, notches weekly gains as investors parse Middle East negotiations

By Stephen Culp and Purvi Agarwal

Fri April 10, 2026

Starting at about 10:30 a.m., it was a shot straight down on the Dow all day as investors continue to digest war news and hedge bets on the cease-fire which has already been repeatedly violated. But though industrials sank, tech did much better with the S&P in the green until about 11:30 when it suddenly sank into the red for the rest of the day. The Nasdaq did even better, gaining some 200 by 11:30 before it too began to sink but still remained on the upside all day to be the only index to close with gains. The flight from the safety of industrials into the more risky tech sectors happens whenever there is more optimism.  

Wall Street ends higher as Middle East peace talks lift sentiment

Wall Street ends higher as Middle East peace talks lift sentiment

By Stephen Culp and Avinash P

Thu April 9, 2026  

Yesterday’s disruptions to the cease-fire quite predictably caused all three indexes to open down this morning, the Dow a minus 220 by 11 a.m.  But the markets then began a recovery likely sparked by Israel seeking talks with Lebanon and continued optimism that the Iran agreements would hold, particularly the promise to temporarily reopen the Strait of Hormuz which Iran had initially promised would happen today.