NEW YORK, April 24, 2026, 13:54 EDT
- The Nasdaq jumped over 1.5%, with the S&P 500 adding roughly 0.7%. The Dow, though, edged lower, according to LSEG data.
- Intel shares rallied, helped by a second-quarter revenue outlook that topped analysts’ projections—AMD, Arm, and Nvidia all followed suit.
- U.S. consumer sentiment just hit a record low for April, keeping inflation concerns front and center.
Tech stocks pushed the Nasdaq Composite to a new intraday high Friday after Intel’s outlook triggered another round of gains for chipmakers. The S&P 500 climbed as well, but the Dow Jones Industrial Average trailed behind, so gains didn’t reach every corner of the market.
It’s a key moment, with investors weighing if strong corporate earnings will be enough to counter two looming threats: fallout from the Iran conflict rattling energy markets, and unpredictable signals from the Fed. Some renewed optimism around potential U.S.-Iran negotiations nudged stocks higher, a brief respite after days of anxiety over the Strait of Hormuz—the oil sector’s vital artery.
Midway through the session, Nasdaq climbed 1.50% to 24,805.83, according to LSEG data. The S&P 500 advanced as well, up 0.68% to 7,156.89. The Dow slipped, losing 0.33% at 49,145.83. Brent crude eased 0.43% to $104.62—still elevated, keeping inflation and consumer spending in the spotlight.
Intel drove the action, after reporting first-quarter revenue up 7% from last year to $13.6 billion. The chipmaker projected second-quarter revenue between $13.8 billion and $14.8 billion, topping estimates tracked by Reuters. “The next wave of AI” is fueling higher demand for its CPUs—the backbone chips in servers and PCs—according to CEO Lip-Bu Tan. Intel
The chip sector got a jolt. The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor Index jumped over 4% by late morning, poised for an 18-session winning streak; Intel surged upwards of 20%. AMD, Arm, and Nvidia logged gains, too. GPUs—graphics processing units—manage big parallel jobs. Intel’s turnaround leans on CPUs driving AI inference, the process behind an AI responding to user prompts.
“The AI build-out race is still on,” said Angelo Kourkafas, senior global investment strategist at Edward Jones. AI demand remains strong, he said—particularly across semiconductors, where there’s no slowdown in sight. Reuters
AI stocks barely flinched after DeepSeek, the Chinese firm that rattled U.S. tech names last year with its cheaper model, teased its latest preview. “Not the threat that they seemed to be,” summed up Trade Nation’s David Morrison, pointing to a shift in sentiment among investors. Reuters
Policy headlines kept things moving. The Justice Department will shut down its probe into Fed Chair Jerome Powell, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro confirmed, clearing one obstacle for Kevin Warsh—President Donald Trump’s nominee for the top central bank job. “A little bit more dovish than Powell,” CIBC Capital Markets FICC strategy chief Noah Buffam remarked about Warsh. Tom Plumb, who manages the Plumb Balanced Fund, labeled the move “very positive for reducing one uncertainty.” Reuters
Rate-cut odds stayed shaky. U.S. rate futures were pricing in a 34% shot at a cut by year-end, Reuters reported, climbing from roughly 23% late Thursday. Traders were also eyeing next week’s Fed meeting for clues on inflation, rates, and the looming leadership handoff.
Consumers are feeling the pinch. The University of Michigan’s sentiment index dropped to 49.8 in April—a record low. Year-ahead inflation expectations moved higher too, now at 4.7%, up from 3.8% in March. Joanne Hsu, who directs the Surveys of Consumers, pointed to the Iran conflict, saying its main impact on households came through “shocks to gasoline and potentially other prices.” Reuters
The rally’s foundation looks thin, with gains concentrated in just a handful of stocks. Reuters points out that reported earnings only reflect a single month under the shadow of war, and oil prices are still well above where they stood before—shipping snarls in Hormuz are to blame. Persistent energy costs threaten to squeeze corporate margins, and households might dial back spending. And with inflation risks simmering, the Fed’s options for cutting rates could be tighter than stock bulls hope.
At least for the moment, investors are reading Intel’s results as another signal that AI-related demand isn’t fading yet. Societe Generale’s U.S. equity strategist Manish Kabra said American stocks appeared “more immune to the oil shock” than peers—a point that sheds light on how the Nasdaq keeps notching records even as the Dow loses ground. Reuters
