S&P 500 – 6,816.89 (-0.11%)

Dow Jones – 46,916.57 (-0.56%)

NASDAQ – 22,902.90 (+0.35%)

• Stocks End Mixed as Week Finishes Near Record Levels: U.S. equities closed mixed on Friday, ending the week on a broadly strong note. U.S. equities are now trading within roughly 2% of all-time highs.
• U.S., Iran, And Pakistan Hold Extended Talks Amid Ongoing Tensions: Marathon negotiations between the U.S., Iran, and Pakistan stretched over multiple days in Islamabad with limited trust, unresolved disputes, and continued pressure from President Trump despite ongoing diplomatic engagement. Geopolitical sentiment was supported by hopes that a fragile ceasefire could evolve into broader U.S.–Iran peace talks.
• Persistent Price Pressures Keep Cost of Living Elevated Across the U.S.: Americans continue to face widespread financial strain as inflation keeps groceries, housing, and utilities well above pre-pandemic levels. The latest CPI showed headline inflation rising to 3.3% from 2.4%, driven by a 21% surge in gasoline prices, the largest since 1967, while core inflation and “supercore” measures came in softer than expected.
• Berkshire Wildfire Liability May Shrink After Key Court Ruling: A U.S. court ruling in Oregon sent a major wildfire class action back for reconsideration, potentially reducing Berkshire Hathaway’s liability by billions and forcing thousands of claims to be re-litigated.
• Tech Strength And AI Momentum Drive Equities Near Highs: Mega-cap tech and AI-related stocks led gains, with Taiwan Semiconductor reporting record revenue and peers like Marvell, Arm, and ASML rising on strong demand expectations. CoreWeave surged on an Anthropic partnership, while Amazon and Meta gained on continued AI infrastructure expansion.
• Earnings, Upgrades, And AI Deals Drive Volatility: Lumentum and SanDisk rallied on strong AI-driven demand and analyst upgrades, while Shake Shack gained after an upgrade tied to sales growth expectations. ServiceNow fell after a downgrade, and Circle dropped on negative analyst action despite broader tech strength.
• Fed Seen on Hold as Rate Cut Bets Stay Limited: Markets are pricing nearly a 100% probability that the Federal Reserve will hold rates steady at its upcoming meeting, with expectations for at least one rate cut this year holding near 35%.

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“Too many people spend money they haven’t earned, to buy things they don’t want, to impress people they don’t like.”

 — Will Rogers

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Notable Stocks

• Organon & Co. (OGN)
• Nvidia (NVDA)
• Palantir (PLTR)
• Astera Labs (ALAB)
• TTM Technologies (TTMI)

Weekly Notables

Artemis II Crew Returns Safely After Historic Lunar Flyby

NASA’s Artemis II mission safely returned astronauts after a historic lunar flyby, marking the farthest human journey from Earth in over 50 years. The Orion spacecraft successfully endured extreme re-entry conditions, validating its heat shield and descent systems.

Oil Slips Under $100 As Strait of Hormuz Tensions Keep Markets on Edge

Oil prices fell below the $100 mark on Friday as ongoing tensions around the Strait of Hormuz continued to disrupt global energy markets, even as a ceasefire agreement between the U.S. and Iran remained in place. The key shipping route remains heavily restricted, adding to uncertainty over global crude flows.

Earnings Spotlight: Citigroup Inc. (C)

Citigroup (C) is set to report Q1 2026 earnings on April 14, 2026, with analysts forecasting strong revenue of roughly $23.71 billion (a 9.8% year-over-year increase). Growth is driven by rebounding investment banking fees and net interest income, though elevated operating expenses and potential credit quality concerns remain key focus areas. 

What's Ahead

The upcoming first-quarter earnings season begins this coming week with major U.S. banks reporting results. Consensus estimates call for S&P 500 revenue growth of nearly 10% year-over-year and earnings growth of about 13%, which would represent the strongest revenue expansion since 2022 and the fifth consecutive quarter of double-digit earnings growth.

Economic:

• Monday (April 13): Existing Home Sales
• Tuesday (April 14): Producer Price Index (PPI)
• Wednesday (April 15): EIA Crude Oil Inventories, Empire State Manufacturing, Export Prices, Import Prices, MBA Mortgage Applications Index, Net Long-Term TIC Flows
• Thursday (April 16): Capacity Utilization, Continuing Claims, EIA Natural Gas Inventories, Industrial Production, Initial Claims, Philadelphia Fed Index
• Friday (April 17): Building Permits, Housing Starts

Earnings:

• Monday (April 13): Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS), Fastenal Co. (FAST)
• Tuesday (April 14): BlackRock Inc. (BLK), CarMax Inc. (KMX), Citigroup Inc. (C), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC)
• Wednesday (April 15): ASML Holdings NV (ASML), Bank of America Corp. (BAC), First Horizon Corp. (FHN), J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. (JBHT), Kinder Morgan Inc. (KMI), M&T Bank Corp. (MTB), Morgan Stanley (MS), PNC Financial Services Group Inc. (PNC), Progressive Corp. (PGR)
• Thursday (April 16): Abbott Laboratories (ABT), Alcoa Corp. (AA), Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (BK), FNB Corp. (FNB), ICON PLC (ICLR), Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc. (MRSH), Netflix Inc. (NFLX), PepsiCo Inc. (PEP), Prologis Inc. (PLD), Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM), Travelers Companies Inc. (TRV)
• Friday (April 17): Ally Financial Inc. (ALLY), Autoliv Inc. (ALV), Badger Meter Inc. (BMI), Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB), Regions Financial Corp. (RF), State Street Corp. (STT), Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (ERIC), Truist Financial Corp. (TFC)