Stock market today: Dow rises, S&P 500 and Nasdaq notch fresh records as war resolution hopes grow

Netflix (NFLX) shares sank more than 9% in after hours on Thursday after the company released its quarterly results and announced founder Reed Hastings will step down from the board.

Netflix revenue for the first three month of the year came in at $12.3 billion, topping estimates of $12.2 billion. earnings per share of $1.23 also beat estiamtes of $0.76.

The streamer’s current-quarter earnings forecast came in at $0.78 per share, below the $0.84 expected by Wall Street.

The company also announced founder Reed Hastings would step down from the streamer’s board to pursue philanthropy and personal interests. Hastings has been with the company for 29 years.

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) and the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) notched their second record in a row on Thursday, rising more than 0.2% and 0.3% respectively.

Meanwhile, the Dow Jones (^DJI) rose 0.2% as optimism grew over a resolution to the Middle East conflict.

Energy, Consumer Discretionary, and Tech stocks powered the markets higher on Thursday.

Tech has been leading the rally over the past 12 days, with semiconductors in the driver’s seat.

However, on Thursday (TSM) fell more than 3% despite its quarterly results showing strong AI demand.

Semiconductor equipment maker ASML (ASML) also dropped more than 4%, extending losses from the prior session.

President Trump nominated Erica Schwartz to serve as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

“It is my Honor to nominate the incredibly talented Dr. Erica Schwartz, MD, JD, MPH, as my Director of the CDC,” wrote Trump on social media on Thursday afternoon.

“Erica graduated from Brown University for College and Medical School, and served a distinguished career as a Doctor of Medicine in the United States Military,” he added.

Dr. Schwartz also served as Deputy Surgeon General during Trump’s first term.

Semiconductor stocks were mixed on Thursday as shares of Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) fell more than 3% despite strong AI demand.

Semiconductor equipment maker ASML (ASML) fell more than 4%, extending losses from the prior session.

Meanwhile, Intel (INTC) rose more than 4% as Wall Street has grown increasingly bullish on the chip manufacturer.

The first leg of this rebound belonged to chip stocks. But software is catching up quickly.

Since the March 30 low, the PHLX Semiconductor Sector ETF (SOXX) has surged more than 30% in 12 trading days, while the iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (IGV) has gained only 8%.

That tells the story of this rebound so far: Semiconductor stocks bottomed with the broader market and took off immediately, while software kept sliding and didn’t bottom until last Friday, April 10.

That late turn is what makes the second chart interesting.

Over the last four days, IGV has jumped 12%, versus 4% for SOXX.

Last year, after the April post-”Liberation Day” low, software and chip stocks turned higher together and stayed largely in sync. This time, software missed the first surge entirely, then woke up in a hurry.

So this looks less like a new leadership change than a rally that may finally be broadening within tech. If software keeps gaining ground from here, the rebound gets healthier. If this four-day sprint peters out fast, semis are still doing most of the heavy lifting.

Chinese officials are considering limiting exports of solar panel components, Reuters reported on Wednesday, which could hamper US companies’ plans to build solar farms.

Although the rule hasn’t been finalized, according to Reuters, solar stocks fell on the news. Shares in First Solar (FSLR) fell 3%, while those in Enphase (ENPH) declined 2%, Nextpower (NXT) dropped 3.5%, and Sunrun (RUN) declined 1% in afternoon trading.

China currently dominates the solar industry. According to the International Energy Agency, the country manufactures around 80% of solar panel components, such as polysilicon, ingots, wafers, cells, and modules.

Such a move to limit exports of solar panel equipment could affect US Big Tech firms, such as Tesla (TSLA), Google (GOOG), and Amazon (AMZN), who have invested in solar capacity.

In March, Reuters reported that Tesla was in talks with Chinese firms to purchase $2.9 billion worth of solar equipment; however, new export controls could put those talks in jeopardy. At the same time, Tesla has been aggressively pursuing US-made solar components.

Earlier this year, Tesla CEO Elon Musk laid out a vision for building 100 GW of domestic solar production — not only for here on Earth but also for solar panels in space.

Yahoo Finance’s Brian Sozzi reports:

Read more here.

Yahoo Finance’s Brooke DiPalma reports:

Allbirds (BIRD) stock veered nearly 30% lower on Thursday afternoon, sharply reversing a nearly 600% gain on Wednesday after the company announced it’s switching from a sustainable sneaker business to an artificial intelligence company.

The stock fell to $12 per share after jumping as high as $23 on Thursday. Still, it’s a far cry from its price of less than $3 just days ago. The company’s market cap spiked to $159 million on Wednesday, compared to $21.7 million at Tuesday’s close.

The company plans to change its name to NewBird AI and raise $50 million, with the funds expected to close during the second quarter of 2026.

Read more here.

Israel and Lebanon have reached a 10-day ceasefire agreement, President Trump said in a Truth Social post on Thursday, marking a temporary break in a conflict that has snarled any potential positive movement between the US and Iran.

“I just had excellent conversations with the Highly Respected President Joseph Aoun, of Lebanon, and Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, of Israel. These two leaders have agreed that in order to achieve PEACE between their countries, they will formally begin a 10 Day CEASEFIRE at 5 P.M. EST,” the president wrote.

Israel’s military campaign in Lebanon against the Iran-backed proxy force Hezbollah, which Netanyahu launched shortly after the Iran war began, has emerged as a key sticking point in US-Iran ceasefire negotiations.

Even as Iran has insisted that a cessation of Israeli military action in Lebanon must be part of any ceasefire, Israel has continued a widespread air and ground campaign within the country against Hezbollah through the US-Iran ceasefire, set to expire on Tuesday.

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s parliamentary speaker, said in a post on X on Wednesday that the US “must commit” to the “completion and consolidation of a comprehensive ceasefire in Lebanon.”

The US has insisted that it does not view Lebanon as part of any ceasefire arrangements with Iran.

Futures on oil continued their move up on Thursday. International benchmark Brent crude (BZ=F) rose 3.4% on the session, while US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WT) crude (CL=F) futures gained a slimmer 2.3%.

The executive director of the International Energy Agency said Thursday that Europe has “maybe six weeks of jet fuel left,” and flight cancellations are likely imminent.

In an interview with the Associated Press published Thursday, IEA leader Fatih Birol warned that the war in Iran — and the following cessation of commodity flows out of the Strait of Hormuz — has created “the largest energy crisis in history.”

In his comments to the AP, Birol cited higher gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel costs that are likely to continue rising, as a ceasefire agreement between the US and Iran and a reopening of the strait remain out of reach.

“It is going to have major implications for the global economy,” Birol told the AP. “And the longer it goes, the worse it will be for the economic growth and inflation around the world.”

Spirit Airline parent Spirit Aviation Holdings (FLYYQ) is at risk of being liquidated as early as this week, Bloomberg reports, citing rising jet fuel costs as putting further pressure on the company.

Bloomberg sources claim the company could liquidate as soon as this week, though the situation is fluid, as Spirit is in talks with its creditors and could continue operations with fresh capital.

It’s been a rough go of it for the budget carrier. Spirit filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in August 2025 — the second time it had to do so in under a year.

A Spirit spokesperson declined to comment to Bloomberg.

Read more here.

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) just broke out to new highs. The next question is whether it holds.

This morning, I noted that the index had flashed a rare bullish thrust signal, rising 10% in only 11 trading days. Now the question is whether this breakout sticks, or starts to look more like the dot-com peak — a brief push to new highs before a sharp reversal.

The best tell may be what’s happening under the hood. One simple way to track that is the advance-decline line, a running measure of how many S&P 500 stocks are rising versus falling.

After last year’s “Liberation Day” sell-off, breadth confirmed the recovery early. The advance-decline line peaked first in late 2024, then exceeded that high on May 2, 2025. Only after that did the S&P 500 reclaim and exceed its own prior peak on June 27, 2025.

Today, the sequence is a little different. The S&P 500 peaked on Jan. 27, 2026. Breadth peaked a month later on Feb. 27, and price has already pushed to a new closing high as of April 15.

That keeps the setup bullish. But until breadth comes into the picture, this breakout is not fully confirmed.

US gross domestic product (GDP) could grow by more than 10% by 2034 on the back of large-scale economic growth driven by the boom in AI, BNP Paribas economists wrote in a client note on Wednesday.

“The AI boom will be a period of optimism, in our view, in which the decisions of consumers, businesses and investors are informed by expectations of strong and sustained productivity growth,” the economists wrote.

While BNP Paribas expects the US, Europe, and the UK to all benefit economically from the advent of the technology, the US is best positioned to see the largest benefits, the economists wrote.

US GDP alone is likely to grow by 6.7% by 2034 under the bank’s central scenario, while the economists see GDP growth across the US, UK, and Europe averaging 4% above the baseline.

“These results broadly match the historical experience of the [information and communications technology] revolution, when the US pulled ahead of Europe,” the economists wrote.

The S&P 500 closed above 7,000 for the first time on Wednesday, marking the index’s first record close since January and a return to new highs after two months of disruptions tagged to private credit, an AI software apocalypse, and then the outbreak of the US-Iran war.

At its trough, the S&P 500 was down 9% from its late January highs.

With Wednesday’s close, the index returned to a record just 11 days after reaching this nadir.

And according to data from Bespoke Investment Group, this marks the fastest move from a correction of this size to a new record high since 1928.

Here’s Bespoke:

The Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) and Nasdaq 100 (^NDX) both notched their second intraday record highs of 2026 at the open. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) did the same, bringing its 2026 total to eight, while the Dow Transports (^DJT) just logged its 16th all-time high of the year.

Both Nasdaq indexes, along with large-cap tech (XLK), are on track to extend their winning streaks to a historic 12 days. Semiconductors (SOXX), meanwhile, are in the red and set to snap an 11-day streak.

Interestingly, not a single large-cap sector has made a record high in this comeback, either intraday or on a closing basis. Even so, small-cap tech (PSCT) has become the first sector in its cohort to hit an intraday record high, and the Russell 2000 (^RUT) is within a hair of its first record closing high since January.

US edged up at the opening bell on Thursday after Wednesday saw the S&P 500 cross over 7,000 for the first time.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) led gains with an advance of roughly 0.4%, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) gained roughly 0.2%. Meanwhile, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) hovered just above the flatline.

Investors are watching for signs of progress between the US and Iran on the war in the Middle East, with the two sides now reportedly in indirect discussions to prolong the two-week ceasefire set to expire on April 22.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSM) and PepsiCo (PEP) beat on both the top and bottom lines, while Charles Schwab (SCHW) reported above expectations on earnings but fell below revenue estimates. Standout Netflix (NFLX) is set to report after the closing bell.

Initial jobless claims fell to 207,000 in the week ended April 11, according to Department of Labor data released Wednesday.

Initial jobless claims fell to 207,000 in the week ended April 11, according to data released by the Department of Labor on Thursday, coming in below the previous week’s revised tally of 218,000 claims.

Economists had expected initial claims of 213,000 for the week, according to consensus estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

The falling unemployment claims came after the Federal Reserve released its Beige Book, which is published eight times per year. Most districts, the Fed wrote, “described labor demand as stable, with low turnover, minimal layoffs, and hiring mostly for replacement.”

Continuing claims, which track the unemployed population still seeking work, rose to 1.82 million for the week ended April 4, above economists’ expectations of 1.81 million and the previous week’s 1.79 million.

What Allbirds is doing is not all that different from Big Tech’s embarrassing, conformist, trend-jacking turn to AI not that long ago.

Yahoo Finance’s Hamza Shaban writes:

Read more here in today’s takeaway from the Morning Brief.

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) just pulled off a rare sprint, notes Yahoo Finance’s Jared Blikre.

He writes:

Read more here.

From Bloomberg:

The US and Iran are considering a two-week ceasefire extension to allow more time to negotiate a peace deal, according to a person familiar with the matter, reducing the risk of renewed fighting despite an intensifying standoff over the Strait of Hormuz.

With the initial truce due to expire next week, mediators are seeking technical talks to overcome the most contentious issues preventing a longer-term agreement, said the person, who asked not to be identified discussing sensitive matters. Those include reopening Hormuz and the future of Iran’s nuclear program.

Tensions remain high over the strait, a critical waterway for oil and gas that’s been effectively shuttered since the start of the war almost seven weeks ago. The US has set up a naval blockade to cut off Iranian shipments, and said Wednesday that 10 vessels have been forced to turn around. Tehran is keeping the strait closed to most other traffic.

… The US hasn’t “formally requested an extension of the ceasefire,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Wednesday. But she acknowledged “we remain very much engaged in these negotiations.”

The US is sending thousands of additional troops to the Middle East in the coming days to pressure Tehran into making a deal or to prepare for strikes if the ceasefire ends, the Washington Post reported, citing current and former officials it didn’t name.

Read more here.