Traders work at the New York Stock Exchange on April 17, 2026.
NYSE
The S&P 500 rose Friday after investors were given a hopeful sign that peace talks between the U.S. and Iran would soon take place in Pakistan.
The broad market index traded up 0.3%, while the Nasdaq Composite added 0.8%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 160 points, or 0.3%, however.
MS NOW reported, citing a Pakistani government official, that the Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is expected to arrive in Islamabad on Friday evening and that U.S.-Iran negotiations are likely to occur. The recent rally in oil prices lost steam following the development. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures were last trading above $95 per barrel, while international benchmark Brent crude futures were trading above $105 a barrel.
This comes on the heels of President Donald Trump announcing Thursday that Israel and Lebanon agreed to extend their ceasefire by three weeks. The announcement followed a meeting at the White House with top U.S. officials, Trump said.
“The Meeting went very well!” the president wrote in a Truth Social post. “The United States is going to work with Lebanon in order to help it protect itself from Hezbollah,” he added, referencing the Iran-backed militia group.
The Middle East conflict has evolved into a naval standoff over the Strait of Hormuz as the U.S. and Iran have seized commercial ships. Trump said in a Truth Social post on Thursday that he had ordered the U.S. Navy to “shoot and kill any boat” that is laying mines in the strait.
Given Thursday’s reversal from all-time highs for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq, headlines coming from the Middle East still can sway the market, even as traders attempt to look past the conflict and focus on corporate earnings reports.
The move higher in S&P 500 on Friday was supported by Intel shares, which soared 24%. The chipmaker posted first-quarter earnings that beat Wall Street’s expectations and shared an upbeat forecast for its current quarter.
That adds to the rally semiconductor stocks have seen this week. On Thursday, the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) posted its 17th positive session in a row and is now pacing to end the week with a 10% gain.
For the three major averages, however, the week is shaping up to be mixed. The S&P 500 is on track to end the period flat, while the Dow is tracking for a 0.6% decline. The Nasdaq has risen 0.6% this week.
Cameron Dawson, chief investment officer at NewEdge Wealth, said she expects the market’s leadership to remain constricted.
“This market continues to get narrower and narrower. And once, it was a story of all ‘Mag Seven’ doing well. Now it’s really just a story of semiconductors doing well,” she said on CNBC’s “Closing Bell: Overtime” on Thursday afternoon. “We are having the most cyclical sector in the world — being semiconductors — experiencing super normal growth. The stocks will deliver 100% earnings growth this year. The question is, how do you value that?”
“The real question is how the market digests the super normal growth and if it thinks it can actually continue,” Dawson added.
