S&P 500 rebounds 3.2%
The S&P 500 climbed 3.2% on the week as investors digested fresher economic signals and the start of earnings season — the Dow rose 0.5% and the Nasdaq gained 1.2% in the same stretch. The index still finished Q1 down 4.6% year‑to‑date, and analysts say tech will drive more than half of the S&P’s year‑over‑year earnings gains in 2026. (ad-hoc-news.de) (finance.yahoo.com) (investing.com)
Oil’s retreat after fresh signals of de‑escalation in the Iran war removed a major risk premium — Brent settled down roughly $3.42 to $103.97 per barrel on the move, and U.S. crude briefly slid below $100, easing pressure on equity risk sentiment. (zawya.com) Wolfe Research’s Chris Senyek singled out semiconductors as the single largest contributor to S&P earnings growth, estimating the group will supply about 39% of the index’s year‑over‑year earnings gain in 2026 and naming Micron and NVIDIA as principal drivers. (finance.yahoo.com) Micron’s March 18 fiscal‑Q2 report delivered an EPS of $12.20 and revenue of $23.86 billion — figures that outpaced consensus and underpinned the semiconductor narrative driving index revisions. (finance.yahoo.com) FactSet’s calendar‑year 2026 preview shows analysts projecting S&P 500 earnings growth near 15% for the year, reinforcing why market internals remain sensitive to a handful of high‑growth names. (insight.factset.com) Despite headline gains concentrated in large tech, market breadth was thin at quarter‑end: more than half of S&P 500 industry groups were trading in correction territory as investors weighed concentrated tech strength against weaker sector performance. (msn.com) Wall Street is watching an April–May earnings stretch that includes major AI‑exposed names — Nvidia’s next report is flagged for May — while Goldman analysts say continued AI investment could lift sales at top AI‑linked stocks by roughly 20% in 2026. (finance.yahoo.com)
