This past week was yet another consequential one for market participants. Perhaps the biggest news was that Iran decided to open the Strait of Hormuz to all traffic, which was a huge relief for investors as well as those burdened by higher gas prices. Stocks had a banner day Friday while the price of oil plunged.
It’s also worth noting that this is only good for the length of the cease fire, so conditions could change rapidly. It appears there is internal conflict within Iran’s leadership. Iran’s military now states the strait is again closed as of Saturday afternoon.
Those who follow the latest developments on monetary policy are also likely keeping a close eye on this situation. If gas prices tumble, inflation may also tumble as well, which means that the Fed may be more amenable to rate cuts in 2026. Donald Trump has called for rates to be cut down to 1 percent as soon as possible. With Jerome Powell scheduled to exit the Fed in May, a new leader may be willing to do so regardless of market conditions.
Of course, this wasn’t the only important news to come out this week. On Tuesday, the Price Producer Index (PPI) for March was released. Core PPI came in at 0.1 percent, which was lower than the projected 0.4 percent and also lower than the 0.3 percent for February. Overall PPI came in at 0.4 percent, which was significantly lower than the 1.1 percent projection for March.
Much of the increase can be attributed to events in Iran, and it may be seen as an encouraging sign that increases were lower than anticipated. April’s figures will also likely be influenced by events in Iran whether the war ends in the next few days or drags on for a few more weeks.
On Thursday, the unemployment claim data for the last seven days was made public. Over the past week, there were 207,000 requests for benefits. This was slightly lower than the projected 213,000 requests and lower than the 217,000 claims made last week.
The S&P 500 was on a bullish tear this week essentially gaining ground all week. Over the last five days, it was up 331 points, which is a gain of 4.87 percent. Over the past month, the index is up 6 percent and is up nearly 35 percent since last April. This week, the index made a low of 6,793 on Monday morning and a high of 7,145 on Friday morning.
As with the S&P 500, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was also up significantly this week. It gained more than 1,800 points to close at 49,447, which was an increase of 3.82 percent from the open on Monday. It is now up 5 percent over the past month and up 26 percent since this time last year. This week, the Dow made a low of 47,536 on Monday morning and a high of 49,685 on Friday morning.
Finally, the Nasdaq also had a great week for investors gaining almost 1,600 points to finish at 26,672. This was an increase of 6.33 percent since the open on Monday and is up over 46 percent since April 2025. For the week, the market made a low of 25,063 on Monday and a high of 26,717 on Friday.
Crude oil took a steep drop this week as it fell from a high of around $98 on Monday to a low of about $80 on Friday. Gold rebounded after hitting its yearly low in March of about $4,250 to climb to $4,875 on Friday.
The upcoming week is going to be another interesting one for traders as there will likely be more fallout from events in Iran. Retail sales data is due out on Tuesday while the Flash Manufacturing PMI and Flash Services PMI comes out on Thursday along with unemployment claims for the week. Pending home sales data also comes out on Tuesday with forecasts calling for flat growth since last month.