Stock market notches one of its fastest turnarounds in years
It has been a week to remember for S&P 500 (^GSPC) fans.
The S&P 500’s round trip from a near correction (-9%) to a new all-time closing high this week was the fastest since 2020 at only 54 trading days, Barclays strategist Venu Krishna pointed out in a note on Friday.
Counting the snapback from the trough, the recovery to a new record was the fastest of all approximate 9% pullbacks since at least 1990 at a mere 11 trading days.
The US stock market surged to record-breaking territory this week, dumbfounding many bears on the Street. The S&P 500 crossed the 7,000 milestone for the first time in history, while the Nasdaq Composite logged its 12th consecutive day of gains on Thursday — its longest winning streak since 2009.
Semiconductor, media (i.e., Internet), and hardware stocks are powering the record-breaking rally as buyers pile back into AI-themed plays that weighed on the index during the March sell-off.
Read more about today’s market action.
The rally sees tech as a winner, again.
(Barclays)
This unbreakable rally is being fueled by a powerful convergence of diplomatic optimism and tech stock dominance.
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First, bullish investor sentiment shifted into high gear following reports of a temporary ceasefire and the possibility of high-level peace talks between the US and Iran. That has sent oil prices retreating toward $97 per barrel and eased immediate inflation fears.
Simultaneously, the artificial intelligence supercycle theme remains the market’s primary engine, supercharged by Taiwan Semiconductor’s (TSM) impressive earnings report on Thursday. The company notched record profits and upgraded its 2026 outlook, which helped silence concerns that geopolitical tensions would derail AI-related spending.
Read more: How to protect your money during turmoil, stock market volatility
Combined with resilient first quarter bank earnings from JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Bank of America (BAC), as well as a cooler-than-expected Producer Price Index (PPI) report, the market has managed to climb a wall of worry to hit fresh records.
“I’m so bullish on the economy,” Franklin Templeton CEO Jenny Johnson told Yahoo Finance at the Semafor World Economy conference this week (video above).
Brian Sozzi is Yahoo Finance’s Executive Editor and a member of Yahoo Finance’s editorial leadership team. Follow Sozzi on X @BrianSozzi, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Tips on stories? Email brian.sozzi@yahoofinance.com.
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