WEEKLY MARKET RECAP – APRIL 10, 2026
Major U.S. stock indexes surged between 3% and 5%, roughly matching the previous week’s gains. A cooling of tensions in the Middle East drove oil prices sharply lower, helping support the equity rally.
These back-to-back advances significantly offset March’s losses. Over the two-week period, the NASDAQ gained about 9%, the S&P 500 rose 7%, and the Dow added 6%. As of Friday, the S&P 500 and Dow were roughly flat for the year on a total return basis, while the NASDAQ remained down about 1%.
Inflation moved higher, driven largely by energy costs. The latest Consumer Price Index showed prices rising at a 3.3% annual rate in March, well above the Federal Reserve’s long-term target near 2%. The figure marked a sharp increase from February’s 2.4% reading, with energy prices jumping 12.5% year over year.
At the same time, easing geopolitical tensions pushed oil prices significantly lower. U.S. crude dropped about 15% on Wednesday to as low as $91 per barrel following a cease-fire announcement. By Friday afternoon, oil was trading near $96—down roughly 13% for the week and well below the recent intraday peak of about $119 reached on March 9.
Economic growth data continued to weaken. A revised estimate showed fourth-quarter GDP expanding at just a 0.5% annualized rate, down from earlier estimates of 0.7% and 1.4%, and far below the 4.4% pace recorded in the third quarter.
Consumer sentiment deteriorated further. The University of Michigan’s preliminary April reading fell to 47.6 from 53.3 in March and 56.6 in February, reflecting ongoing concerns tied to geopolitical tensions and rising energy costs.
Gold prices extended their recovery for a second consecutive week, gaining more than 2% to around $4,800 per ounce. Despite the rebound, the metal remained below its late-January record near $5,500.
Looking ahead to earnings season, analysts have slightly lowered their expectations. FactSet data shows projected first-quarter earnings growth for S&P 500 companies at about 12.6%, down from 13.2% a week earlier. Even with the revision, it would mark a sixth straight quarter of double-digit growth.
Major U.S. Economic Reports
| Report | Period | Actual | Previous |
| ISM Services | March | 54.0% | 56.1% |
| Durable-goods orders | Feb. | -1.4% | -0.5% |
| Durable-goods minus transportation | Feb | 0.8% | 0.3% |
| Consumer credit | Feb. | $9.5 billion | $7.7 billion |
| Personal income | Feb. | -0.10% | 0.40% |
| Personal spending | Feb. | 0.5% | 0.3% |
| PCE index | Feb. | 0.4% | 0.3% |
| PCE (year-over-year) | 2.8% | 2.8% | |
| Core PCE index | Feb. | 0.4% | 0.4% |
| Core PCE (year-over-year) | 3.0% | 3.1% | |
| GDP (second revision) | Q4 | 0.5% | 0.7% |
| Initial jobless claims | April 4 | 219,000 | 203,000 |
| Wholesale inventories | Feb. | 0.8% | -0.3% |
| Consumer price index | March | 0.3% | |
| CPI year over year | 2.4% | ||
| Core CPI | March | 0.2% | |
| Core CPI year over year | 2.5% | ||
| Factory orders | Feb. | 0.1% | |
| Consumer sentiment (prelim) | April | 55.5 |
Closing Prices for the Week
| Contract | Close |
|---|---|
| Dow Jones Industrials Average | 47,916.57 |
| Nasdaq Composite | 22,902.89 |
| S&P 500 Index | 6,816.89 |
| CBOE Volatility Index | 19.23 |
| S&P GSCI | 703.59 |
| U.S. Dollar Index | 98.650 |
| 10-Year T-Note (Jun ’26) | 111-030 |
| Crude Oil WTI (May ’26) | 96.57 |
| Natural Gas (May ’26) | 2.648 |
| Gold (Jun ’26) | 4,787.4 |
| Silver (May ’26) | 76.480 |
| Corn (May ’26) | 441-0 |
| Wheat (May ’26) | 571-0 |
| Soybean (May ’26) | 1175-6 |
| Coffee (Jul ’26) | 295.90 |
| Sugar #11 (May ’26) | 13.75 |
| Cocoa (Jul ’26) | 3,327 |
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