It's Friday on Wall Street, and the market is doing that thing it sometimes does: climbing a wall of worry. The worries are substantial—record-low consumer sentiment, the hottest monthly inflation print in nearly four years, and a tenuous ceasefire in the Middle East. Yet, the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 is on track to log its eighth consecutive session of gains. That's the longest winning streak since September 2025.
Let's unpack the worry wall. The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index absolutely cratered in April, hitting an all-time record low of 47.6. Meanwhile, the March monthly inflation rate printed at 0.9%, the highest monthly increase since June 2022. The headline Consumer Price Index rose to 3.3% year-over-year, the highest reading in nearly two years. Core CPI was a bit cooler at 2.6% year-over-year, but consumers' one-year inflation expectations jumped to 4.8%, the highest since April 2025. Not exactly a recipe for a risk-on rally.
Geopolitics added another layer. Iran's compliance with the terms of a two-week ceasefire remains, as they say, tenuous. President Donald Trump posted Thursday evening that Iran was doing "a very poor job, dishonorable some would say, of allowing Oil to go through the Strait of Hormuz — that is not the agreement we have!" Reports indicated the administration is preparing military options if weekend negotiations fail.
Amid this, President Trump threw an unexpected lifeline to Palantir Technologies Inc. (PLTR). He praised the firm's "great war fighting capabilities and equipment" — adding, "Just ask our enemies!!!" — precisely as the stock was wrapping up its worst weekly performance since February 2021. The remark sparked a swift reversal: shares jumped 3.6%, adding roughly $10.5 billion in market value and pulling the company back from the brink of a deeper sell-off.
Crude prices bounced after a brutal week, but the rebound was modest. WTI crude rose 1.6% to trade near $99.44 per barrel, while Brent added 1.5% to around $97.33. Both benchmarks remained down more than 11% on the week after Trump's ceasefire announcement unwound much of the risk premium built up during the Iran standoff.
In the equity markets, the S&P 500 inched up 0.1% to 6,829. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.4% to 48,016. The Nasdaq 100 showed relative strength, up 0.3%. The small-cap Russell 2000 fell 0.4% to 2,626, unable to extend a hot week that had seen the index jump more than 3%.
Treasury yields edged higher as investors digested the inflation data. The 10-year yield rose four basis points to 4.32%. The two-year yield climbed four basis points to 3.81%, and the 30-year yield pushed to 4.92%.
