Zacks Equity Research
4 min read
U.S. stock markets closed mixed on Friday as market participants continued to assess the fragile temporary peace truce between Iran and the United States and Israel. The two key economic data that were released on Friday also came in mixed. The Dow and the S&P 500 ended in negative territory, while the Nasdaq Composite finished in the green. For the week as a whole, these three indexes posted solid gains.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) fell 0.6% or 269.23 points to close at 47,916.57. Notably, 24 components of the 30-stock index ended in negative territory while just five ended in positive territory and one remained unchanged.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite finished at 22,902.89, gaining 0.4% due to the solid performance by AI semiconductor giants. The major gainer of the index was Marvell Technology Inc. MRVL. The stock price of the AI-powered semiconductor giant surged 7.2%. Marvell Technology currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
The S&P 500 was down by 0.1% to finish at 6,816.89. Eight out of 11 sectors of the broad-market index ended in positive territory while three ended in negative territory. The Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR (XLY) and the Industrials Select Sector SPDR (XLI) gained 1.7% and 1%, respectively. On the other hand, the Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE) fell 1.2%.
The fear gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) was down 1.3 to 19.23. A total of 15.83 billion shares were traded on Friday, lower than the last 20-session average of 19.18 billion. Decliners outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by a 1.13-to-1 ratio. On the Nasdaq, a 1.5-to-1 ratio favored declining issues.
Middle East Peace Truce Remains Uncertain
The two-week temporary ceasefire between Iran and the U.S-Israel joint forces remained fragile. Israel continued to attack Lebanon while Iran started levying fees on oil tankers (except some of its friendly countries) that are passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
In his post on Truth Social, President Donald Trump wrote a warning to Iran “They better not be and, if they are, they better stop now.” The crude oil prices remained volatile. The U.S. benchmark — West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude — futures fell 1.35 to settle at $96.57 a barrel. The international benchmark — the Brent crude — futures also declined 0.8% to settle at $95.20 a barrel.
The Department of Labor reported that the consumer price inflation (CPI) — popularly known as household inflation — remained mostly in line with the consensus expectations. The headline CPI rose 0.9% in March from 0.3% in February. The Zacks Consensus Estimate was for an increase of 1%.
The jump in headline CPI was solely due to the breakout of war in the Middle East resulting in a 10.9% surge in energy prices. Year over year, the headline CPI increased 3.3% in March, marking its highest monthly rise since April 2024. The metric for February was 2.4%.
