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.

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.