S&P 500 ends down as chip stocks give up gains

S&P 500 ends down as chip stocks give up gains

By Noel Randewich and Sruthi Shankar

Thu May 7, 2026  

Was it a day of profit-taking after the string of recent records or was it more jitters over the war? In any case, all the indexes retreated today after starting the day modestly in the black but then declining steadily all day. The exception was the Nasdaq which began the day well into the black, up some 200 by 11 a.m. before starting its own decline. This was all despite the relatively good news of a continuing strong Q1, progress in the Iran peace talks, unemployment benefits coming in lower than expected, and better than expected private payrolls.  

Stocks hit records on tech earnings, oil slide from prospect of Iran deal

Stocks hit records on tech earnings, oil slide from prospect of Iran deal

By Lawrence Delevingne and Harry Robertson

Wed May 5, 2026  

For the second day, more reports from Washington expressing recent progress with Iran for a deal to end the war shot all three indexes way up again with even more impressive 3-digit gains than yesterday. AI champion AMD coming in after yesterday’s bell with a forecast above estimates jumped the stock price a whopping 18.6%. Is this optimism justified? As today’s expert put it, “It’s difficult to say how close to a deal we might be. Market participants aren’t going to wait for confirmation of good news and are essentially now front-running a positive outcome.”  

S&P 500 and Nasdaq notch records as AI chip stocks surge

S&P 500 and Nasdaq notch records as AI chip stocks surge

By Noel Randewich and Utkarsh Hathi

Tue May 5, 2026  

With the White House reporting that the ceasefire with Iran is holding, yesterday’s concerns over who controls the Strait of Hormuz evaporated and all focus went back to Q1 which continues solid. Thus, it was a straight shot up on all the indexes with handsome 3-digit gains all around. Both tech indexes once again posted record highs and the S&P is poised for 28% in earnings growth, the highest quarterly growth in five years.  

S&P 500 falls from record high on Middle East worries

S&P 500 falls from record high on Middle East worries

By Noel Randewich and Niket Nishant

Mon May 4, 2026  

Two violent incidents in the Strait of Hormuz – a South Korean ship attacked while attempting entry and a U.S. Navy vessel forced by the Iranians to turn back – demonstrated loudly that Iran was still in complete control of the vital strait. This decisively shifted sentiment back towards the war, which investors have been trying to ignore, and all three indexes fell sharply, especially the Dow with a big 3-digit loss.  

S&P 500, Nasdaq end higher, notch weekly gains after earnings-heavy week

S&P 500, Nasdaq end higher, notch weekly gains after earnings-heavy week

By Stephen Culp and Niket Nishant

Fri May 1, 2026  

Q1 earnings reports, particularly in the tech sector, continued to come in strong on Friday, bolstering continuing confidence in AI as more companies begin claiming their huge AI investments are starting to pay off. As is usually the case, when tech gets exciting, money is taken from the safety of industrials so the Dow had a modestly down day while the S&P and Nasdaq took off. After ending a record-breaking month yesterday (the biggest in years), both the tech indexes registered a record-breaking week today with both hitting now six consecutive weekly advances, the longest winning streak in 1-1/2 years.  

Wall Street ends higher, S&P 500, Nasdaq notch biggest monthly gains in years

Wall Street ends higher, S&P 500, Nasdaq notch biggest monthly gains in years

By Stephen Culp and Niket Nishant

Thu April 30, 2026  

I noted yesterday that there may be more of a rally today as four of the behemoth Mag7 companies turned in their Q1 after the bell. Well, we had no idea. It was an enormous rally that sent all three indexes way up with tech hitting its biggest monthly gains in six years and industrials scoring their biggest monthly advance in 1-1/2 years. Despite the poor war news, investors are ignoring that dark cloud and focusing fully on the Q1 reporting looking for desperate signs that the enormous AI spending is positioned to pay off.  

Wall Street ends mixed ahead of big tech earnings

Wall Street ends mixed ahead of big tech earnings

By Stephen Culp and Niket Nishant

Wed April 29, 2026  

I wouldn’t call Wall Street “mixed” today but rather wildly gyrating between big losses on all three indexes (the Dow down over 400, the Nasdaq over 160) and a sudden late session surge in tech that brought both indexes to break-even. Spiking crude prices as well as overall uncertainty with Iran sent everything spiraling down in the morning. Then the modestly good news came that Trump was talking to oil producers like Chevron about how to stablize gas prices while new orders for capital goods jumped 3.3%, the largest increase in nearly six years.  

Nasdaq, S&P 500 end lower on renewed AI growth worries ahead of big tech earnings

Nasdaq, S&P 500 end lower on renewed AI growth worries ahead of big tech earnings

By Stephen Culp and Niket Nishant

Tue April 28, 2026  

After only two days, concerns about the potential profitability of AI is back on the front page again with signs of weakening coming from OpenAI and its chief user Oracle. Whereas before the Dow was taking a big hit while tech soared, today tech took a major dump while the Dow, while not exactly soaring, did spend most of the day in the black gaining well over 200 at its height and then closing nearly flat. It appears that AI has taken bets off the table awaiting the reports from the major AI contributors later this week.  

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.

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.  

Wall Street ends sharply higher on US-Iran ceasefire

Wall Street ends sharply higher on US-Iran ceasefire

By Stephen Culp and Purvi Agarwal

Wed April 8, 2026  

Since the two-week cease-fire agreement was announced nearly 3 hours after the markets closed yesterday, it was quite predictable that the indexes would soar today. And soar they did right out the gate and stayed there all day, the Dow racing up 4-digits to its biggest one-day gain in a year, while the S&P and Nasdaq regained a lot of the ground lost since the start of the war. This jubilation continued despite the hiccups in the cease-fire agreement that occurred throughout the day.  

Wall Street closes mixed, with signs of progress as Trump's Iran deadline draws near

Wall Street closes mixed, with signs of progress as Trump's Iran deadline draws near

By Stephen Culp and Purvi Agarwal

Tue April 7, 2026  

The day started as a disaster with the Dow down over 650 points by 11 a.m. But once again investors chose to take the positive approach that there would be a peace deal and rather downplay Trump’s fiery rhetoric. There was encouragement when Pakistan said that talks were progressing steadily while urging a 2-week extension on the Iran attack deadline while also asking Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz for that 2-week period.  

Wall St ends higher as investors parse US-Iran negotiations, threats

Wall St ends higher as investors parse US-Iran negotiations, threats

By Stephen Culp and Purvi Agarwal

Mon April 6, 2026

 

Mixed messages continue to haunt the markets as investors try to balance peace talks vs Trump’s increasingly heated war rhetoric. But Wall Street continues to lean towards putting more weight on the peace talks. With that, the indexes were quite predictably bumpy again but ended on a positive note with both the Dow and Nasdaq closing with 3-digit gains. The jobs report released on Good Friday showed stellar gains, triple the forecast, but this was tempered by a sharp upward revision of February job losses with over 40,000 additional jobs gone.  

Oil prices soar, and stocks end mixed in volatile trade

Oil prices soar, and stocks end mixed in volatile trade

By Chris Prentice and Marc Jones

Thu April 2, 2026 8:18 PM  

Wall Street rallied like crazy the last two days almost entirely due to expectations that Trump would be announcing the end of the war last night. Then he did exactly the opposite, not only no end but at least a few more weeks of even more intense fighting. All the optimism faded and there was a huge crash right at open, the Dow coming down almost 700 points with the other indexes following suit. But it must have been the case come 10 a.m. that sentiment switched to business as usual as investors knew full well that it’s difficult to interpret Trump.  

Wall Street ends higher on speculation about end to Iran war

Wall Street ends higher on speculation about end to Iran war

By Noel Randewich and Purvi Agarwal

Wed April 1, 2026  

For a second straight day, optimism over an end to the war has sent stocks further up from yesterday’s huge rallies. Investors continue to choose to believe the Trump news or, as today’s expert put it, “We have Trump’s comments, which tend to change a bit. Everybody’s trying to guess as to what he really means by what he’s saying. The markets want it to be positive, they want the war to be over.” Today’s gains have lifted the S&P’s losses for the year to 4% vs yesterday’s 4.7%.  

Wall Street soars as traders bet on potential war off-ramp

Wall Street soars as traders bet on potential war off-ramp

By Noel Randewich and Purvi Agarwal

Tue March 31, 2026   

It must have been right around 12:30 pm that Trump told the Wall Street Journal that he was no longer holding the Strait of Hormuz as a condition for ending the war and Iranian media itself reported that the Iranian leader was now open to negotiation. For it was at that moment that all three indexes zoomed through the roof. The war has caused the biggest quarterly decline in four years and today saw the biggest one-day gain since last May.  

Wall Street indexes end mostly lower as investors weigh Middle East conflict outlook

Wall Street indexes end mostly lower as investors weigh Middle East conflict outlook

By Caroline Valetkevitch and Purvi Agarwal

Mon March 30, 2026

A lot of mixed signals brought the indexes down, except the Dow that was up nearly 500 before sliding to near breakeven. The Nasdaq was down about 250 by 3:30 before recovering about half of that in the final half hour. But mixed messages were on the one hand Trump proclaiming talks going well and on the other hand taking steps to widen the war. In other bad war news, Yemen has entered the conflict on the side of Iran.  

Stocks tumble, Dow confirms correction territory, as Middle East tensions drag

Stocks tumble, Dow confirms correction territory, as Middle East tensions drag

By Chuck Mikolajczak and Purvi Agarwal

Fri March 27, 2026  

It was another major drubbing. Usually a 1% 1-day drop is considered huge. Today the Nasdaq and Dow averaged a 2% 1-day drop, all indexes at their lowest in seven months and all three with 5 straight weeks of declines, the longest stretch in four years. The Dow today became the latest index to confirm a correction. And, per today’s expert, “I would view this as a big opportunity, but would not be surprised if we see a drawdown between 15 and 20% before it’s over.”  

Nasdaq confirms correction, Wall Street slumps on Middle East uncertainty

Nasdaq confirms correction, Wall Street slumps on Middle East uncertainty

By Sinéad Carew and Twesha Dikshit

Thu March 26, 2026  

The optimism lasted only a day. Iran has completely rejected the U.S. peace plan claiming it is completely slanted to U.S. advantage and Trump has resumed his threats of further attacks on the oil facilities. Thus, the price of oil spiked still more and all the indexes began a steady and continuing decline from 10 a.m. onwards. It was another bloodbath with major 3-digit losses all around and hopes for a near-term end of the war dashed, with nothing but uncertainty about the future of the conflict.  

Wall Street advances as investors bet on Mideast de-escalation

Wall Street advances as investors bet on Mideast de-escalation

By Sinéad Carew and Purvi Agarwal

Wed March 25, 2026

At last, some good news from Iranian officials who, though still refusing to enter into any talks, did acknowledge receipt of the 15-point proposal and confirmed that they were “under consideration.” This sparked some real optimism that there would be further negotiations and any hint that the war may be on its way to resolution shot all three indexes straight up right out the gate.  

Stocks slip, with oil prices higher as war uncertainty is high

Stocks slip, with oil prices higher as war uncertainty is high

By Caroline Valetkevitch and Amanda Cooper

Tue March 23, 2026 6:44 PM  

The Dow did better than tech but it was a red-ink rollercoaster all the way for the others, with the Nasdaq down as much as 230 points in both the morning and afternoon. The uncertainty over Iran just continues to escalate with on the one hand Trump saying talks are going well and we’re “talking to the right people” to Iran denying everything and even Trump admitting that nobody knows who the right people are anymore since so much of the leadership has been killed off.  

Wall Street indexes rally after Trump postpones strikes on Iran's power plants

Wall Street indexes rally after Trump postpones strikes on Iran's power plants

By Sinéad Carew and Purvi Agarwal

Mon March 23, 2026

It was quite the teeter-totter day again with the indexes swinging wildly between two competing scenarios of Trump pushing a peace plan with Tehran and Tehran denying it. At its height the Dow was up over 1100, its lowest over 200. A major impetus was also Trump’s decision not to bomb Iran’s power plants just yet. That caused oil to drop and a corresponding jump in equities.

Wall Street skids as Middle East turmoil fans inflation fear

Wall Street skids as Middle East turmoil fans inflation fear

By Noel Randewich and Johann M Cherian

Fri March 20, 2026

It was another day of a thorough drubbing with major 3-digit losses all around, though losses were far more moderate until about 1 pm. Before 1 pm, it was just the usual war/inflation fears. It was probably right around 1 pm that Trump announced thousands of more Marines being deployed to the war region with no signs of the fighting letting up. It was at that point that everything went even further into hell.  

Wall Street ends down as traders see no rate cuts before 2027

Wall Street ends down as traders see no rate cuts before 2027

By Noel Randewich and Utkarsh Hathi

Thu March 19, 2026 

It was another day to get whooped but it started out much worse in the morning and through about 3 pm when all three indexes really took a dive, the Dow down some 500. At 3 pm, there was suddenly a very energetic buying spree that recovered all the day’s losses but unfortunately ended at 3:15 pm when just as suddenly they all went into a big dive again until close. The likely trigger were the European central banks following suit with the Fed and holding rates steady on the well publicized fear of oil-induced major inflation in our future resulting from the war.  

Wall Street ends sharply lower after Fed keeps rates unchanged

Wall Street ends sharply lower after Fed keeps rates unchanged

By Noel Randewich and Utkarsh Hathi

Wed March 18, 2026

It was another huge rout today but the headline “sharply lower after Fed keeps rates unchanged” is not quite accurate. The fact is that for quite some time now analysts have said no rate change in March. For a long while, the hopes were for June but once the war started, it became October and perhaps not at all. So the Fed decision today to keep rates unchanged was already long since priced in to the market. No indeed what happened was today’s PPI report which at 3.4% was considerably higher than the 2.9% forecast which was a foreboding of more inflation and dropping all the indexes considerably right out the gate. There was zero expectation of a rate cut, but major hopes that at least the Fed would signal that oil would not figure in to inflation policy.  

Wall Street ends up as traders turn to Fed

Wall Street ends up as traders turn to Fed

By Noel Randewich and Johann M Cherian

Tue March 17, 2026

For no particular reason, all the indexes closed the day with modest gains except for tech which had a pretty good up day. But the day didn’t start that way with them all way up in the morning, the Dow almost 500. All the usual problems remain with the one positive being that Wall Street is betting on now one more rate cut near the end of the year (up from zero a couple days ago) and that tomorrow’s Fed announcement will bring more clarity on inflation.  

Wall Street ends higher as traders return to AI stocks

Wall Street ends higher as traders return to AI stocks

By Noel Randewich and Johann M Cherian

Mon March 16, 2026

AI is once again today the darling of Wall Street with Meta planning to lay off 20% of its workers on the basis that AI will assist the remaining 80% to work more efficiently, thereby lending more credence in the future profitability of the technology. All three indexes zoomed straight up right out the gate a substantial 3-digits and stayed there all day. Major AI players saw a good boost. Investors also acted on news reports from Washington that Iranian, Indian, and Chinese tankers would soon be moving through the Strait of Hormuz, which dropped oil prices a bit but is also in direct contradiction to statements made by Iran last week.

Wall Street closes lower, posts weekly loss as war on Iran fuels inflation worries

Wall Street closes lower, posts weekly loss as war on Iran fuels inflation worries

By Stephen Culp and Johann M Cherian

Fri March 13, 2026 

All the indexes started in the green, the Dow up some 450 at the outset, but the bad news started pouring in from the boatload of data that was expected today. At least it was a steady rather than chaotic decline on all fronts well into the red by the end of the day with tech getting the brunt of it. 

Wall St ends sharply lower as intensifying Iran war, soaring crude prompt selloff

Wall St ends sharply lower as intensifying Iran war, soaring crude prompt selloff

By Stephen Culp and Johann M Cherian

Thu March 12, 2026  

Today was the worst yet. No bouncing back and forth, just straight down. With the strikes on the two oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, hopes of a quick end to the war were also struck down. There were no positives in the tug-of-war, just the war making everyone flee equities for safer havens and all the indexes dropping dramatically right at the outset and staying there all day.  

S&P 500, Dow end lower as escalating Iran war sours risk appetite

S&P 500, Dow end lower as escalating Iran war sours risk appetite

By Stephen Culp and Johann M Cherian

Wed March 11, 2026  

In a day of extraordinarily volatile trading, investors were in a tug-of-war between the bad news of oil supply concerns and subsequent rapidly spiking energy prices as well as Iran’s continuing attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz. The flip side of the tug-of-war was the good news of OPEC’s promise today that oil production was being ramped up and exports would continue. The Dow swung wildly hitting a low of more than 600 down by noon but closing at a minus 289, with the Nasdaq also swinging between a high of +180 around 10 a.m. and a low of a -95 around 1:30 pm. 

Wall St closes mixed on ramped-up Middle East tensions

Wall St closes mixed on ramped-up Middle East tensions

By Stephen Culp and Johann M Cherian

Tue March 10, 2026  

They called it a parabolic move today starting deeply in the red as the fighting in Iran was said to be at its most intense, then moved up swiftly on more optimism the war could end soon, then fell just as swiftly as investors once again got a reality check that a quick resolution was probably not coming. All three indexes zoomed straight up to big gains only to collapse at around 1:30 and close nearly flat. The Dow was down some 300 at 10 a.m. and up nearly 500 by 1:30, an 800-point swing.  The Navy said no escorts for tankers in the Strait of Hormuz and the news of Iran laying mines in the strait hastened the market’s decline.  

Wall St ends higher as hopes of Iran war resolution offset inflation fears

Wall St ends higher as hopes of Iran war resolution offset inflation fears

By Stephen Culp and Johann M Cherian

Mon March 9, 2026

Early in the day, another surge in oil prices combined with Iran’s selection of the slain supreme leader’s son to succeed him brought all three indexes crashing way down, which is where they stayed all day. The Dow was down nearly 900 in the morning, remained that way until 3:15 when it very suddenly spurted way up again. Same with the Nasdaq, down about 330 in the morning, then shot straight up right at about 3:15, the S&P following a very similar pattern, down over 100 in the morning. It must have been right around 3 pm that Trump made the dual announcements that the war plans were way ahead of the previously stated five week schedule and could be over very soon.  

US stocks close down as oil spikes 12%, job market weakens

US stocks close down as oil spikes 12%, job market weakens

By Sabrina Valle and Johann M Cherian

Fri March 6, 2026  

It seems the experts yesterday were wrong about the jobs numbers already being discounted as they came in bad and the market reacted badly. All three indexes went straight down right out the gate and stayed there all day with the Dow and Nasdaq suffering major 3-digit losses and the S&P within a stone’s throw of 3-digits. In fact, in the morning, the Dow was down almost 1,000 points again. A boost in new jobs was expected but instead more than 90,000 jobs were lost and unemployment boosted to 4.4%.  

Wall Street closes down as oil prices spike on Middle East conflict

Wall Street closes down as oil prices spike on Middle East conflict

By Sabrina Valle and Johann M Cherian

Thu March 5, 2026  

It appears that Trump’s move to placate the oil markets by ordering U.S. naval escorts for oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz lasted only one day as today huge rout turned into a repeat of Tuesday’s with the only difference being that Tuesday recovery after a huge morning drawdown began mid-morning whereas an equally huge drawdown today didn’t begin a recovery until mid-afternoon. At 2:30 pm, the Dow was down almost 1200, the Nasdaq 300, the S&P 100 as oil prices went from $65/barrel last Friday to $71 on Monday to $85 today.  

US stocks close up on Iran diplomacy hopes; tech leads rebound

US stocks close up on Iran diplomacy hopes; tech leads rebound

By Sabrina Valle and Johann M Cherian

Wed March 4, 2026  

A day after the great flight to the exits, all three indexes shot straight up right out the gate and stayed there all day once again enjoying nice 3-digit gains that recovered a good deal of yesterday’s lost ground. The catalyst today was the dual punch of Iranian operatives reaching out to the CIA for possible talks and Trump ordering naval escorts for tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.  

Wall Street indexes end lower as Middle East conflict fans inflation fears

Wall Street indexes end lower as Middle East conflict fans inflation fears

By Caroline Valetkevitch and Johann M Cherian

Tue March 3, 2026  

Yesterday on the third day of the war, the sentiment on Wall Street was that the crisis and expected oil spike was nothing to worry about as it was going to be “very temporary” to last a few days or at most weeks.  On this the fourth day, sentiment has taken a 180 as now the war is expected to last quite a while and energy spikes will cause an inflation surge. It was a thorough rout today on all three indexes but it started out a great deal worse. At 10:30 a.m., the Dow was down some 1300 points, the Nasdaq down over 600 and the S&P, which rarely goes into 3-digits, a whopping 170.  

Wall Street ends narrowly mixed, trading volatile after air strikes on Iran

Wall Street ends narrowly mixed, trading volatile after air strikes on Iran

By Sabrina Valle and Pranav Kashyap

Mon March 2, 2026

 

The Iranian crisis and subsequent spiking oil prices (up about 12%) triggered an expected massive selloff right out the gate. The Dow opened down 600, the Nasdaq over 350, the S&P minus 80. But investors almost immediately started buying the dip with an all-day recovery as everyone started buying up tech again, especially the comfortable winners in the AI sector. Tech managed to get into the green by close as did the Dow briefly for about half an hour before falling again and closing down. It didn’t take long for the markets to shrug off the war and oil spike as very temporary. 

Wall St notches monthly declines on combined AI, tariff, geopolitical uncertainty

Wall St notches monthly declines on combined AI, tariff, geopolitical uncertainty

By Stephen Culp and Ragini Mathur

Fri February 27, 2026  

Once again it was that trifecta of angst over AI, tariffs and geopolitical disruptions that triggered another massive selloff. But it was more than just the usual uncertainty but the PPI data showing inflation had increased by more than twice the estimate and putting the odds of no March rate cut at very close to 100%. Both the Nasdaq and S&P ended the month down with their biggest percentage declines in a year.  

Wall St ends lower as tech rally stalls, AI fervor wanes after Nvidia results

Wall St ends lower as tech rally stalls, AI fervor wanes after Nvidia results

By Stephen Culp and Ragini Mathur

Thu February 26, 2026  

Today provided a prime example of why shorting is risky. Though the market liked Nvidia’s numbers yesterday, taking a closer look today was not quite as impressed. As today’s expert put it, “It’s as simple as investors being levered long in Nvidia and short the AI disruption. When that failed to materialize in a large enough scale, they sold out their position, driving Nvidia down and pushing the stocks they were short back up.”  

Wall Street extends tech-powered rally as AI worries abate; Nvidia reports

Wall Street extends tech-powered rally as AI worries abate; Nvidia reports

By Stephen Culp and Shashwat Chauhan

Wed February 25, 2026  

The renewed optimism over AI spilled over into a second day with all three indexes shooting straight up again with very impressive 3-digit gains again, this time more than enough to overcome Monday’s tech losses and almost enough to overcome Monday’s Dow losses. Recent AI good news has put the angst over return-on-investment on the back burner momentarily though major concerns still surround the potential for AI disruption in ancillary industries.  

Wall St bounces back, ending higher on renewed tech vigor, easing AI concerns

Wall St bounces back, ending higher on renewed tech vigor, easing AI concerns

By Stephen Culp and Shashwat Chauhan

Tue February 24, 2026 6:16 AM  

The pattern continues with the markets being fearful about AI one day and jubilant about it the next. A few hints of positivity today from AI companies, most notably from the AI lab Anthropic did the trick. There was also likely a lot of “buying the dip” action going on today as well. At any rate, it was a shot straight up all day on all three indexes with nice 3-digit gains in both the Dow and Nasdaq, though not quite sufficient to make up for yesterday’s losses. On this third day following the 15% global tariff, markets are still trying to assess potential impact and whether existing trade agreements will be impacted.  

Wall Street ends sharply lower amid AI displacement fears and revived tariff angst

Wall Street ends sharply lower amid AI displacement fears and revived tariff angst

By Stephen Culp and Shashwat Chauhan

Mon February 23, 2026 

It seems that the stock market was willing to brush off the 10% global tariffs Trump imposed Friday, defying the Supreme Court after it declared his tariff policy unconstitutional. But when he upped it to 15% on Saturday, that was a whole different story, not only because of all the added uncertainty and chaos that’s suddenly been thrown into the mix but because the new tariff breaks trade agreements that already in place, making us vulnerable to even more chaos in the global markets. Add to that the continuing angst over the potential repercussions from AI and it was a formula for a perfect storm.  

Wall Street ends higher after Supreme Court rules against Trump tariffs

Wall Street ends higher after Supreme Court rules against Trump tariffs

By Noel Randewich and Shashwat Chauhan

Fri February 20, 2026 6:52 AM

It’s been no secret that Wall Street and U.S. industry in general have not been happy with the tariffs which have created so much uncertainty and chaos in the markets for the past year. So when the Supremes struck down the tariffs, the indexes all greeted this happily with triple digit gains in both the Dow and Nasdaq. Not that the uncertainty has been completely removed as was evidenced by the charts showing a whole lot of rollercoaster throughout the day.  

Wall Street ends down as Nvidia slides and private equity stocks sink

Wall Street ends down as Nvidia slides and private equity stocks sink

By Noel Randewich

Thu February 19, 2026 5:35 AM

The AI vs software developers tug-of-war resurfaced today when private equity firm (the firms that finance these smaller companies) Blue Owl Capital sold $1.4B in assets citing repeated concerns about software firms to be hurt by AI. Other private equity firms followed the leader and did same. There was a rush out of everything, though following recent patterns, there was a huge dip in the middle of the day followed by a recovery of sorts. Everything looked much worse earlier with the Dow down over 450 by 1 pm (recovering about half of that in the final hour), and the Nasdaq down over 150 by 3 pm, again recovering about half in the final hour.  

US stocks follow European shares higher; geopolitical jitters boost oil, gold

US stocks follow European shares higher; geopolitical jitters boost oil, gold

By Stephen Culp

Wed February 18, 2026 9:00 PM

The pattern continues. After opening with all three indexes zooming way up, the Dow up over 350 points, then at 1:30 everything went crashing down to lose all gains by 3:30 but did recoup some of them in that final half hour. The trigger was the usual mix of competing interests of rate cuts vs inflation control. Dampening sentiment was also the disappointing Ukraine peace talks and Iran restricting access to the Strait of Hormuz creating potential supply problems. Christine Lagarde’s leaving her post at the ECB was an additional cause for concern. Fed minutes showed a strong consensus to hold rates steady but a split over the timing of the next cut. Per the CBOE, volume was 17.1 billion, still below the 20 billion average.

DJ: 49,533.19  +32.26         NAS: 22,578.38  +31.71         S&P: 6,843.22  +7.05             2/17

DJ: 49,662.66  +129.47       NAS: 22,753.64  +175.25       S&P: 6,881.32  +38.10           2/18

Wed 2-18-26 5:04 pm US stocks follow European shares higher; geopolitical jitters boost oil, gold | Reuters

Equities close with slight gains as tech shares recover

Equities close with slight gains as tech shares recover

By Chuck Mikolajczak and Purvi Agarwal

Tue February 17, 2026 6:24 AM

It was another extremely volatile day on the indexes with all three bouncing back and forth several times between deep red and modest black, the Dow losing some 330 points and the Nasdaq down some 300 in the morning. But all three eventually worked their way through all the nerves to close modestly in the black. The events were summed up by today’s expert, “There’s a lot of different [competing] trends going on in terms of where investors want to put money right now and you see that in this market where you just see spikes up and spikes down, on maybe not a daily basis, but on a regular basis.”  

S&P 500 ends up slightly as tech dips, inflation cools

S&P 500 ends up slightly as tech dips, inflation cools

By Sinéad Carew and Twesha Dikshit

Fri February 13, 2026 6:48 AM  

Wednesday’s strong jobs report brought the market down due to pessimism over rate cuts. Today’s CPI data showed prices increasing less than expected with inflation at least holding and perhaps even finally seeing some daylight in terms of tariff impact. This sparked renewed optimism that there might be a rate cut, prompting the oddsmakers to slightly push the June cut from 48.9% to 52.3%. Everything was going great until about 1 pm, the Dow being up some 300 points, but then all three indexes began a steady decline which led to the loss of most gains with all indexes closing modestly with the Nasdaq a little in red, the others a little in the black.  

Wall Street sinks as tech rout deepens on AI angst

Wall Street sinks as tech rout deepens on AI angst

By Sinéad Carew and Twesha Dikshit

Thu February 12, 2026 5:47 AM  

AI jitters returned to very high gear today with another huge rout that was triggered by a less than stellar Q4 update from Cisco Systems. This dent in the AI halo quickly infected the entire market and continued to aggravate nerves about the enormous AI spending going on, reported to be a whopping $650 billion by Amazon, Google, Meta, and Microsoft alone. The huge selloff was also attributed to a continuation of yesterday’s trigger of how these huge capital expenses can possibly be recouped into profits. Tomorrow’s CPI will give a clearer picture on inflation. But the bottom line according to today’s expert, “We see this as a ‘prove it' year for AI. We need to start seeing some return on investments.” At 22.45 billion, volume was very brisk and well above the 4-week average of 20.78 billion. 

DJ: 50,121.40  -66.74         NAS: 23,066.47  -36.01         S&P: 6,941.47  -0.34               2/11

DJ: 49,451.98  -669.42       NAS: 22,597.15  -469.32       S&P: 6,832.76  -108.71           2/12

Thu 2-12-26 5:01 pm Wall Street sinks as tech rout deepens on AI angst | Reuters

Wall Street ends muted after strong jobs data nibbles at Fed rate cut bets

Wall Street ends muted after strong jobs data nibbles at Fed rate cut bets

By Sinéad Carew and Twesha Dikshit

Wed February 11, 2026  

Today’s payrolls report came in stellar, much higher than expected, establishing that the labor market is in fine shape and is good news for the economy. You would think that everyone would be buying given the nerves over the past few days of this report disappointing. Instead, it was another case of good news taken as bad news since new rate cuts may not be needed after all. Plus the new concerns regarding AI hurting software developers continues as the chip index rose 2.3% but the corresponding software index fell 2.6%. For every dollar that went into AI, a dollar was taken away from the developers.  

S&P 500, Nasdaq dip with economic data, earnings in focus

S&P 500, Nasdaq dip with economic data, earnings in focus

By Sinéad Carew and Twesha Dikshit

Tue February 10, 2026 6:12 AM  

All three indexes started the day up, the Dow way up almost 400 points, before all started declining again with tech once again seeing the heaviest losses as overinvestment concerns with AI crop up again. The Dow lost most of its ground due to a flat retail sales report vs an expected 0.4% increase, indicating that consumer spending has stalled. But what’s really going on is everyone sitting on the fence awaiting Wednesday’s jobs report and keeping a hedge in case it’s disappointing.  

Wall Street advances as tech bounces further off of recent losses

Wall Street advances as tech bounces further off of recent losses

By Sinéad Carew and Twesha Dikshit

Mon February 9, 2026 5:28 AM  

After a very short-lived early morning sell off on all three indexes, all three quickly went into the black and, though the Dow remained mostly flat all day, tech took off as recent worries about over-valuations and AI vulnerabilities seem to have gone now to the back burner as bargain hunting continues for the second day. The Dow had a modest gain but still a second consecutive closing record and the S&P closed just shy of its record. The Nasdaq remains about 3% below its record.  

Dow closes above 50,000, Nvidia soars as traders focus on AI spending

Dow closes above 50,000, Nvidia soars as traders focus on AI spending

By Noel Randewich

Fri February 6, 2026 6:33 AM  

Well, isn’t this cute? After three days of severe panic selling over anxiety over the future profitability of AI, suddenly it’s a market favorite again with all three indexes shooting way straight up right out the gate and staying there all day, the Dow with a whopping 4-digit lead and even the S&P with a 3-digit, the Nasdaq of course with a big 3-digits. As today’s expert put it, “When there’s this kind of a selloff, I think there’s a floor where there’s going to be a certain set of investors that steps in and starts buying these names.” Is this just bargain hunting that sent the Dow to a new record, breaking the formidable 50,000 and the S&P within a stone’s throw of another record? What makes no sense at all is the conditions that triggered the massive selloff are still very much in evidence.  

Wall Street ends sharply down as AI worries weigh

Wall Street ends sharply down as AI worries weigh

By Noel Randewich

Thu February 5, 2026 5:59 AM  

For the third day, serious worries about the unprecedented huge investments in AI creating doubts about whether it will translate to profits shot all three indexes way down. It was a similar pattern to the last two days with the markets tumbling drastically until 11 a.m., then recovering in the early afternoon.  Only today, instead of continuing the recovery, everything sank again with major 3-digit losses in both tech and industrials. It seems that every major tech company, after announcing even greater planned expenditures for AI, just caused a rush to the exits with the stock prices taking big hits.  

Wall Street ends down as AI worries slam tech stocks

Wall Street ends down as AI worries slam tech stocks

By Noel Randewich and Pranav Kashyap

Wed February 4, 2026 6:21 AM  

It was a second day of panic selling with mounting fears that the AI rally has not only peaked but is hurting software developers. And, like yesterday, the pattern was for a straight downward spiral on both the S&P and Nasdaq which was much worse during the day than at close. Like yesterday, they both had huge losses until about 1 pm, the Nasdaq down nearly 600, the S&P down about 80. The Dow had a much better time starting way up over 400 only to crash to zero by 1 pm. And like yesterday, after the crashes, they all recovered a large portion of their losses, tech still closing quite solidly in the red but the Dow having a nice 3-digit gain.  

Wall Street ends sharply down as traders fret about AI disruption

Wall Street ends sharply down as traders fret about AI disruption

By Noel Randewich and Twesha Dikshit

Tue February 3, 2026 6:12 AM  

Wow, what a difference a day makes, but it does point out just how skittish this market is. Just yesterday, AI was once again the darling of Wall Street with optimism abounding. Today, a great panic set in as suddenly investors are suddenly so terribly worried that AI fever may hurt software developers. The reasoning here escapes me. After all, what good is AI for if not for developing very advanced software? Why would that hurt the developers? But there you have it.  The day’s plummet was actually much worse than meets the eye with the Dow dipping almost 600 points by 2 pm and corresponding plunges on the S&P at nearly a minus 120 and the Nasdaq a minus some 560 also by 2 pm.  

S&P 500 flirts with record high; chipmakers and small caps jump

S&P 500 flirts with record high; chipmakers and small caps jump

By Noel Randewich and Pranav Kashyap

Mon February 2, 2026 6:05 AM

Ahead of Q4 reports due later this week from stalwarts Alphabet and Amazon, all the indexes shot straight up and way up and stayed there today. Recent concerns about tech overvaluations and disappointing earnings seemed to have vanished today as AI is once again in the front seat and going strong. Small caps continue to outperform tech but with AI dominating the S&P, the index is already up 2% this year with its first gains in three sessions, though the Russell is up about 6% as the rotation into small caps continues, something very much viewed as confidence in the economy.  

US stocks fall, as investors fret over Trump's Fed nominee, earnings, inflation

US stocks fall, as investors fret over Trump's Fed nominee, earnings, inflation

By Sinéad Carew and Pranav Kashyap

Fri January 30, 2026 5:27 AM  

Like yesterday, the indexes were way down during the day but at least the Dow and S&P recovered most of these losses by close. The Dow had reached a low of a minus 600 by 1 pm, the S&P down about 80.  The Nasdaq did not fare nearly as well in a straight downward spiral losing over 330 points by 1 pm.  The simple reason for this was new nerves over the nomination of Powell’s replacement, a hawk who is feared to push for more rate cuts than is healthy and push the already fragile economy into even steeper inflation.  

S&P 500, Nasdaq close down as Big Tech's soaring AI budgets trigger flight

S&P 500, Nasdaq close down as Big Tech's soaring AI budgets trigger flight

By Sinéad Carew and Pranav Kashyap

Thu January 29, 2026 7:24 AM  

Tech really took a bath today as, at least for today, investors decided the AI honeymoon was over given a new pessimism over the promise of huge AI expenditures ever turning into profits, especially with Microsoft’s disappointing Q4 report. The losses were far greater earlier in the day than at close with the Dow down almost 400 by 11 a.m., tech going much worse with the Nasdaq losing over 600 in the morning and S&P over 100. 

Nasdaq ends slightly up, S&P 500 flat as Fed brings little surprise

Nasdaq ends slightly up, S&P 500 flat as Fed brings little surprise

By Sinéad Carew and Pranav Kashyap

Wed January 28, 2026 4:58 PM  

A completely expected “no change” announcement from the Fed today resulted in very little change to the indexes though tech started quite high in the morning only to immediately decline to near break-even. Even the Dow, though mostly straddling break-even all day, had its moments at times as much as 100 down and 150 up.  The Mag7 was a mixed bag with Microsoft diving after its Q4 report but Meta rising though its positive report came in after close. The good news is that, though the Fed had intended to report that inflation was still too hot and employment still too unstable, they modified their statement that both factors were in better shape than previously thought.  

S&P 500 marks closing record as corporate earnings roll in; Medicare rates hit insurers

S&P 500 marks closing record as corporate earnings roll in; Medicare rates hit insurers

By Sinéad Carew and Pranav Kashyap

Tue January 27, 2026 5:00 PM

Tuesday saw a massive flight from industrials as the Dow sank over 400 points and an equally massive migration to tech as Nasdaq gained over 200. Hurting the Dow was a serious hit to healthcare stocks triggered by a White House proposal to raise Medicare premiums. Tech was helped by a deal with Corning getting a $6B contract to supply fiber optic cable to Meta for its AI data centers. The Mag7 companies are reporting in the next 3 days and their earnings will largely determine investor appetite for further investment.  

Wall Street indexes close higher ahead of earnings, Fed meeting

Wall Street indexes close higher ahead of earnings, Fed meeting

By Sinéad Carew and Pranav Kashyap

Mon January 26, 2026 5:00 PM

With a slew of megacap earnings coming later this week and increased optimism that the huge investments in AI will soon start translating into profits, all three indexes headed straight up today with 3-digit gains in both tech and industrials. Investors will be looking to see if the continuing concerns over high tech valuations are justified. It’s a fragile equation though. Even a slight setback could cause a big AI selloff. 

Dow ends lower, with S&P flat, as Intel's outlook weighs on risk appetite

Dow ends lower, with S&P flat, as Intel's outlook weighs on risk appetite

By David French

Fri January 23, 2026 4:56 PM

Tech was topsy-turvy and the Dow went straight south as the indexes continue to recover from Tuesday’s huge losses. Today both the Nasdaq and S&P came within a stone’s throw of recouping losses and though the Dow did recoup yesterday by a slim margin, the 285 point loss today put them back into negative territory. Thus, the week remained a loser on all counts, though only slightly so. Tech would have had a better day except for disappointing news from Intel.  

Wall Street ends up as investors buoyed by tariff relief, upbeat data

Wall Street ends up as investors buoyed by tariff relief, upbeat data

By David French

Thu January 22, 2026 4:00 PM

 

For a second day the indexes continued to ride the wave of ebullience after Trump’s U-turn yesterday on Greenland tariffs and starting to buy back the huge losses from Tuesday. Even though the Dow has now completely recovered, both the tech indexes are still a little shy of Monday’s close before the storm set in.