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Market Perspective for April 19, 2026

Market Perspective for April 19, 2026

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This past week was yet another consequential one for market participants. Perhaps the biggest news was that Iran decided to open the Strait of Hormuz to all traffic, which was a huge relief for investors as well as those burdened by higher gas prices. Stocks had a banner day Friday while the price of oil plunged.

It’s also worth noting that this is only good for the length of the cease fire, so conditions could change rapidly. It appears there is internal conflict within Iran’s leadership. Iran’s military now states the strait is again closed as of Saturday afternoon.

Those who follow the latest developments on monetary policy are also likely keeping a close eye on this situation. If gas prices tumble, inflation may also tumble as well, which means that the Fed may be more amenable to rate cuts in 2026. Donald Trump has called for rates to be cut down to 1 percent as soon as possible. With Jerome Powell scheduled to exit the Fed in May, a new leader may be willing to do so regardless of market conditions.

Of course, this wasn’t the only important news to come out this week. On Tuesday, the Price Producer Index (PPI) for March was released. Core PPI came in at 0.1 percent, which was lower than the projected 0.4 percent and also lower than the 0.3 percent for February. Overall PPI came in at 0.4 percent, which was significantly lower than the 1.1 percent projection for March.

Much of the increase can be attributed to events in Iran, and it may be seen as an encouraging sign that increases were lower than anticipated. April’s figures will also likely be influenced by events in Iran whether the war ends in the next few days or drags on for a few more weeks.

On Thursday, the unemployment claim data for the last seven days was made public. Over the past week, there were 207,000 requests for benefits. This was slightly lower than the projected 213,000 requests and lower than the 217,000 claims made last week.

The S&P 500 was on a bullish tear this week essentially gaining ground all week. Over the last five days, it was up 331 points, which is a gain of 4.87 percent. Over the past month, the index is up 6 percent and is up nearly 35 percent since last April. This week, the index made a low of 6,793 on Monday morning and a high of 7,145 on Friday morning.

As with the S&P 500, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was also up significantly this week. It gained more than 1,800 points to close at 49,447, which was an increase of 3.82 percent from the open on Monday. It is now up 5 percent over the past month and up 26 percent since this time last year. This week, the Dow made a low of 47,536 on Monday morning and a high of 49,685 on Friday morning.

Finally, the Nasdaq also had a great week for investors gaining almost 1,600 points to finish at 26,672. This was an increase of 6.33 percent since the open on Monday and is up over 46 percent since April 2025. For the week, the market made a low of 25,063 on Monday and a high of 26,717 on Friday.

Crude oil took a steep drop this week as it fell from a high of around $98 on Monday to a low of about $80 on Friday. Gold rebounded after hitting its yearly low in March of about $4,250 to climb to $4,875 on Friday.

The upcoming week is going to be another interesting one for traders as there will likely be more fallout from events in Iran. Retail sales data is due out on Tuesday while the Flash Manufacturing PMI and Flash Services PMI comes out on Thursday along with unemployment claims for the week. Pending home sales data also comes out on Tuesday with forecasts calling for flat growth since last month.

Market Perspective for April 5, 2026

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It was another consequential week for traders as the nonfarm payroll jobs reports were released on Wednesday and Friday. There was also additional fallout from the war in Iran that caused volatility in the stock market.

On Tuesday, the JOLTS job report came out and revealed that there were 6.87 million openings in the United States. This was in line with analyst expectations and slightly lower than last month’s figure of 7.24 million. Also on Tuesday, the CB Consumer Confidence report came in at 91.8, which was well above the projected 87.8 and higher than last month’s figure of 91.

Wednesday saw the release of three major reports. The ISM Manufacturing PMI came in at 52.7, which was roughly in line with analyst expectations. Core retail sales were up 0.5 percent last month compared to an expected increase of 0.3 percent. Overall retail sales were up 0.6 percent compared to an expected increase of 0.5 percent.

The ADP nonfarm payroll report found that the economy added 62,000 jobs in March, which was slightly lower than the 66,000 added in February. Analysts had expected the economy to have added 42,000 jobs prior to the release.

On Thursday, the unemployment claims report came out and found that 202,000 people requested benefits over the past seven days. This was lower than the expected 212,000 requests and lower than last week’s figure of 211,000.

The main event of the week took place Friday morning when the BLS released its version of the nonfarm payroll report. It found that the economy added 168,000 jobs in March, which was a significant gain from the 133,000 that were lost in February. The unemployment rate ticked down to 4.3 percent from 4.4 percent while average hourly earnings were up 0.2 percent.

Gold prices reached a high of $4,800 an ounce on Wednesday. Last week, it dipped to under $4,250 an ounce, which was about 20 percent lower than the yearly high of $5,500 that occurred in January. Silver also rebounded to as high as $75 this week after hitting a 2026 low of around $60 an ounce last week. That represented a loss of about 50 percent from the yearly high of $120 hit in late January.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) prices broke the $100 mark this week as WTI reached $105 a barrel on Thursday. Although President Trump announced plans to leave Iran soon, prices will likely remain elevated for some time, which have led to fears of a possible recession.

The S&P 500 was up 2 percent this week to close at 6,582. This was a gain of 130 points for an index that has been in the negative for several weeks now. On Monday morning, the market made its low of the week at 6,323 before reversing and peaking at 6,608 on Wednesday afternoon.

The Dow was also up just over 2 percent for the week to close at 46,504, which was a gain of 936 points since Monday. For the week, the index made a high of 46,741 on Wednesday and a low of 45,102 on Monday morning.

Finally, the Nasdaq was up 2.79 percent to close the week at 21,879. This was a gain of 592 points for an index that has failed so far to replicate the success it had in 2025. A portion of the uptrend can be attributed to investors thinking that tech companies may also be close to technical or fundamental resistance areas.

In international news, Canada announced Tuesday that its GDP increased by 0.1 percent in March. On Thursday, Switzerland announced that its CPI reading was up 0.2 percent in March compared to an expected increase of 0.5 percent.

The upcoming week will likely be another important one as a slew of news releases are expected. On Monday, the ISM Services PMI is scheduled to come out while durable good order data comes out on Tuesday. FOMC meeting minutes come out Wednesday while unemployment claim and final GDP data for the final quarter of 2025. Finally, CPI data will be released on Friday, and that will likely have a significant impact on markets and monetary policy moving forward.