MARKET WATCH | Week of May 5–9, 2026

Six Straight. Markets Hit New Records as Tech Leads the Charge.

The Numbers

The S&P 500 closed Friday at 7,398.93, gaining 0.84% on the day. The Nasdaq Composite surged 1.71% to 26,247.08, with both indexes hitting new all-time intraday highs and closing at records. For the week, the S&P 500 jumped 2.3% and the Nasdaq gained 4.5% — marking six consecutive weeks of gains, their longest winning streak since 2024. The Dow Jones lagged, finishing the week up just 0.2%, closing at 49,609.16.

What's Driving It

Tech earnings carried the week. AMD was a standout, surging 20% on the week and nearly 90% over the past month. The company posted Q1 earnings per share of $1.37, beating estimates of $1.29, on revenues of $10.25 billion against an expected $9.9 billion. Corning also popped 17% after announcing a major supply partnership with Nvidia, along with three new advanced manufacturing facilities in North Carolina and Texas dedicated to optical technologies.

Iran drove intraday swings. On Wednesday, stocks rallied sharply after Axios reported the U.S. and Iran were nearing a deal to end the conflict, including a moratorium on nuclear enrichment. The S&P 500 advanced 1.46% that day, and the Dow added over 600 points. The optimism was short-lived — Trump later signaled a deal was not certain, calling it "a big assumption" that Iran would agree.

Jobs beat expectations — but consumers are cracking. The U.S. added 115,000 jobs in April, well above expectations of 65,000, while unemployment held steady at 4.3%. But consumer sentiment fell to 48.2 in early May, down from April's prior record low and off 7.7% from a year ago — well below economist expectations of 49.7.

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Oil prices fell this week on hopes of a U.S.-Iran deal, though Brent crude stabilized around $100 a barrel. JPMorgan warned that supply buffers insulating the market from the war are eroding and expects "increasing signs of demand destruction" as consumers adjust to higher energy costs.

Lower-income households are already feeling it — New York Fed research found that households earning under $40,000 cut gas consumption by 7% during March's energy price spike, while high-income households barely changed behavior at all.

Jerome Powell's term as Fed chair ends May 15, with Trump's pick Kevin Warsh moving toward Senate confirmation. The Fed's next rate decision remains complicated by conflicting signals — a strong labor market against cratering consumer confidence.

What to Watch