S&P 500 Posts Best Week Since November
The S&P 500 surged 3% and Nasdaq jumped 4% as Iran ceasefire relief outweighed inflation fears. Friday's mixed close didn't spoil the rally.
Wall Street just logged its best week in five months.
The S&P 500 gained 3.1% over the five-day stretch, its strongest performance since the November post-election rally. The Nasdaq surged 4.2%, led by chip stocks and mega-cap tech. The Dow added 2.9%, or roughly 1,350 points.
Friday's session was mixed—only the Nasdaq finished green—but it didn't undo the week's gains. Markets absorbed a record-low consumer sentiment reading and ongoing ceasefire uncertainty without giving back ground.
The Week by Numbers
| Index | Weekly Change | Friday Close | Friday Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| S&P 500 | +3.1% | 6,817 | -0.11% |
| Nasdaq | +4.2% | 22,903 | +0.35% |
| Dow | +2.9% | 47,917 | -0.56% |
| Russell 2000 | +2.4% | 2,145 | -0.22% |
The week marked back-to-back gains for all major indexes—the first time that's happened since late January.
What Drove the Rally
Two words: ceasefire relief.
Tuesday's announcement that the U.S. and Iran had agreed to a two-week truce sparked the biggest single-day rally in a year. The Dow jumped 1,325 points on Wednesday. Oil plunged 16%. The classic war-premium unwind.
That optimism held even as the ceasefire frayed through the week. Iran accused Israel of violating the agreement. Tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains limited. Oil clawed back some losses, settling near $95.
But investors decided to bet on diplomacy over escalation. The alternative—prolonged war, $120 oil, possible U.S. military strikes—had been priced in. Any de-escalation was a win.
Inflation Data: Mixed Message
Friday's March CPI report showed headline inflation at 3.3%, up from 2.4% in February. Gasoline surged 21.2%—the largest monthly jump since 1967. Energy volatility is distorting everything.
But core CPI came in cooler than expected at 2.6% year-over-year. Shelter costs moderated. Services ex-energy rose just 0.2%. Strip out the Iran-driven energy spike and inflation looks manageable.
The Fed will focus on core. Markets took the mixed print as neutral, which in the current environment counts as bullish.
Sector Performance
Tech led, defensives lagged. The week's winners and losers:
| Sector | Weekly Change |
|---|---|
| Technology | +4.8% |
| Consumer Discretionary | +3.9% |
| Communication Services | +3.5% |
| Financials | +2.8% |
| Energy | -1.2% |
| Utilities | +0.4% |
Energy stocks gave back gains as oil retreated. Airlines surged on lower fuel costs. Chip names like NVIDIA and AMD rallied on TSMC's revenue beat.
What's Ahead
Bank earnings kick off next week. JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, and BlackRock report starting Monday. Investors will watch for commentary on deal pipelines, trading activity, and consumer credit quality.
The Iran situation remains the wildcard. Peace talks resume in Islamabad this weekend. If the ceasefire holds and the Strait reopens fully, the relief rally has room to extend. If talks collapse, expect a quick reversal.
Technical levels to watch: The S&P 500 reclaimed its 50-day moving average at 6,750. The next resistance sits at the March high of 6,920. A clean break above that would signal the correction is over. Failure to hold 6,750 on any pullback suggests more chop ahead.
For now, bulls have momentum. The week proved that even a historic sentiment crash and sticky inflation can't derail markets when the alternative—war—is receding. Whether that optimism survives the next headline is another question.