S&P 500 and Nasdaq Hit All-Time Records as Big Tech Earnings Overwhelm FOMC Dissents and Hormuz Oil Spike

Wall Street ended the week of April 27–May 1 at fresh all-time highs despite navigating one of the most turbulent earnings-plus-macro gauntlets of 2026. The S&P 500 closed Friday at 7,229.32 — up 0.91% for the week — while the Nasdaq Composite surged 1.12% to 25,114.44, both marking new records. The path there was anything but smooth: an AI revenue scare crushed semiconductors on Tuesday, a historic four-dissent Federal Reserve decision rattled bonds on Wednesday, and Brent crude spiked above $117 on an extended Strait of Hormuz blockade. Yet earnings firepower from Google, Apple, Qualcomm, and Amazon ultimately overwhelmed every headwind, confirming that Big Tech remains the market’s gravitational anchor.

The week’s pattern told a story of resilience: Monday’s quiet records gave way to Tuesday’s chip selloff on OpenAI revenue concerns, which deepened into Wednesday’s FOMC-driven anxiety as oil prices exploded higher. But Thursday delivered a massive 790-point Dow reversal on blowout Google and Qualcomm results, and Friday’s Apple-fueled rally cemented fresh highs. The Russell 2000 gained approximately 0.9% for the week, underscoring that the rally broadened beyond mega-caps on Thursday’s surge.

Weekly Scoreboard

The Week That Was: Monday Through Friday

Monday — Quiet Records Set the Stage

The week opened with a continuation of the prior week’s bullish momentum as positioning ahead of the largest single-week earnings concentration in a year lifted both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq to fresh all-time highs. The S&P gained 0.12% to 7,173.66, with Nvidia surging 4.01% to $216.61 — a new all-time high and a $5.26 trillion market capitalization — on reports of expanded data-center orders from Microsoft and Oracle. The VIX slid to 18.06 as complacency ruled, treasury yields dipped modestly (10-year at 4.31%), and oil pushed higher on continued Hormuz tensions (Brent $110, WTI $106.50). The market was coiled and waiting.

Tuesday — OpenAI Shock Crushes Chip Stocks

A Wall Street Journal report that OpenAI missed its revenue targets and fell short of its internal goal of one billion weekly ChatGPT users sent shockwaves through the semiconductor complex. ARM Holdings cratered 8%, CoreWeave shed 5.8%, Oracle fell 4%, and the PHLX Semiconductor Index (SOX) snapped an 18-session winning streak — the longest since 2021. The S&P 500 fell 0.48% and the Nasdaq dropped 0.90%, but the real story was beneath the surface: XLK lost 1.69% while XLE gained 1.66%, a 335-basis-point rotation spread that underscored the market’s deepening questions about AI monetization timelines. Energy surged as WTI pushed toward $100 on escalating Hormuz blockade enforcement.

Wednesday — FOMC Bombshell and Oil Spike

The Fed held rates at 3.50–3.75% as expected, but the vote shocked markets: an 8-4 split with four dissents calling for a rate cut — the most hawkish-vs-dovish fracture since 1992. Chair Powell, in what was his final meeting before Kevin Warsh takes over in June, warned that elevated oil prices are keeping inflation “uncomfortably above target” and that the committee needs “greater confidence” before easing. The S&P 500 finished essentially flat (−0.04%) but the Dow fell 0.57% for its fifth consecutive decline.

The session’s true drama was in commodities: Brent crude exploded 5.30% to $117.16 — the highest level since 2022 — after Iran extended its Strait of Hormuz blockade by another 30 days and seized a Singapore-flagged tanker. WTI surged 5.22% to $105.15. Yields spiked to one-month highs (10-year at 4.40%) as the bond market priced in persistent inflation. After hours, Amazon Web Services reported 28% revenue growth, beating estimates and providing a lifeline for the cloud/AI narrative.

Thursday — The 790-Point Reversal

Thursday delivered one of 2026’s most dramatic sessions. The Dow surged 790 points (+1.62%) to 49,652 — its best day in months — as Alphabet (Google) reported a blowout quarter with Search revenue acceleration and announced a $70 billion buyback, sending shares up 9.96%. Qualcomm jumped 15.12% on record smartphone chip revenue and AI-at-the-edge momentum. AMD gained 5.16%. The S&P 500 broke above 7,200 for the first time ever, closing at 7,209.01 (+1.02%).

Crucially, the rally broadened: the Russell 2000 led all major indexes with a 2.21% surge, all eleven S&P 500 sectors closed in the green (Industrials +2.74%, Utilities +2.56%, Health Care +2.20%), and the VIX plunged 10.2% to 16.89. Not everything worked — Meta cratered 8.55% on a massive AI capex increase that spooked investors, and Nvidia fell 4.63% on rotation out of the AI-infrastructure trade into broader cyclicals — but the damage was contained by the sheer breadth of the buying elsewhere.

Economic data painted a mixed but tolerable picture: core PCE remained sticky, GDP came in softer at 2.0%, personal spending surged 0.9%, and initial claims stayed rock-solid at 189K.

Friday — Apple Seals the Records

Apple’s Thursday-night earnings beat — driven by Services revenue growth and resilient iPhone demand in China — propelled shares up 3.28% to $280.25, helping the Nasdaq surge 0.89% to 25,114.44 and the S&P 500 gain 0.28% to 7,229.32. Both marked new all-time closing highs. Reddit exploded 13.08% on a user-growth inflection, and Intel gained 5.43% on restructuring optimism. The rally narrowed, however, with the Dow slipping 0.31% as only Technology (+1.49%) held meaningfully positive among sectors.

ISM Manufacturing came in at 52.7, unchanged from March and missing the 53.0 consensus — but the market shrugged it off, choosing to focus on earnings momentum over a mildly disappointing manufacturing print. Oil retreated (WTI −2.79% to $102.14) on reports of a revised Iranian peace proposal from Turkish mediators, giving the market breathing room on the inflation-risk front.

Sector Performance

The week featured violent sector rotation, with the dominant theme shifting almost daily. Energy and Technology traded places as leaders depending on the oil narrative and AI sentiment cycle.

Movers of the Week

Economic Data Roundup

The macro picture was mixed but ultimately digestible. GDP coming in softer at 2.0% versus 2.4% expected raised mild growth concerns, but personal spending surging 0.9% and claims dropping to 189K countered the slowdown narrative. Core PCE remaining sticky validated the Fed’s cautious stance but didn’t worsen meaningfully. ISM Manufacturing at 52.7 showed continued expansion but no acceleration, while the S&P Manufacturing PMI at 54.5 beat expectations, suggesting some divergence between the two surveys.

Fed Watch

Wednesday’s 8-4 FOMC vote was the headline macro event of the week. The four dissents — all favoring a cut to 3.25–3.50% — represent the largest factional split since 1992 and signal a deeply divided committee. Chair Powell’s post-meeting press conference emphasized three key points:

1. Oil is the problem: Elevated crude prices are transmitting into headline inflation faster than expected, making the committee unwilling to cut despite softening growth data.
2. No forward guidance: Powell explicitly refused to signal the timing of any future cuts, saying the committee will be “data dependent meeting by meeting.”
3. Transition acknowledgment: This was Powell’s final meeting as Chair. He diplomatically noted the committee’s strong institutional foundation heading into the Warsh era.

Market pricing via CME FedWatch showed rate-cut expectations for the June meeting falling to approximately 15% probability, with July now the earliest realistic window at roughly 35%. The two-year yield’s climb from 3.78% to 3.92% over the week reflects this repricing.

Geopolitical Developments

Strait of Hormuz Escalation and De-escalation

The oil market remained the week’s most volatile asset class, driven entirely by the Iran-Hormuz standoff. Early in the week, Iran extended its naval blockade by 30 days and seized a Singapore-flagged tanker, sending Brent above $117 on Wednesday — the highest level since 2022. Insurance premiums for tankers transiting the strait reportedly doubled.

By Friday, however, reports emerged of a revised Iranian peace proposal delivered through Turkish mediators, offering partial reopening of the strait in exchange for sanctions relief on petrochemicals. Brent retreated from $117 to $113.94, and WTI fell to $102.14. The situation remains fluid and will continue to be the market’s primary geopolitical risk factor heading into May.

Week Ahead Preview

The coming week shifts focus from mega-cap earnings to mid-cap results and economic data:

• Earnings: Palantir, AMD (full results after preview), Uber, Shopify, Disney, and dozens of mid-cap reporters. The AI capex debate (Google bullish vs. Meta bearish market reaction) will continue to play out.
• Economic Data: ISM Services (Monday), JOLTS job openings (Tuesday), ADP Employment (Wednesday), and the April Nonfarm Payrolls report (Friday) — the week’s headline event.
• Fed Speakers: Multiple Fed governors are scheduled to speak in the wake of the contentious 8-4 vote. Markets will parse every word for hints about the June outlook under the lame-duck Powell regime.
• Geopolitics: Iran-Turkey peace talks continue. Any formal agreement could send oil sharply lower; any breakdown could reignite the $117+ spike.

The AlphaEdge Take

This was a week that tested every assumption and rewarded patience. The OpenAI scare, the historic FOMC dissent fracture, and a genuine $117 oil spike would have cratered a fragile market — and yet the S&P 500 finished at all-time highs. That tells you something fundamental about the current cycle: earnings growth is real, corporate America is delivering, and the bid beneath equities runs deeper than any single headline risk.

That said, we are not complacent. The 2s/10s spread compression, the Fed’s inability to cut despite four members agitating for it, and Brent crude still $14 above last week’s peace-talk lows all represent stored energy that could release in either direction. The market’s decision to celebrate Google’s AI monetization narrative while punishing Meta’s AI spending narrative shows that investors are increasingly discriminating within the AI theme — a healthy and necessary maturation.

Our base case for May remains constructive: the S&P 500 is likely to consolidate above 7,200 and potentially push toward 7,350–7,400 if the jobs data cooperates and oil continues to retreat on diplomatic progress. The biggest risk is a Hormuz breakdown that sends Brent back above $115, which would force the yield complex higher and pressure equity multiples. Position accordingly: stay long the broad market with selective energy hedges, and continue to favor companies demonstrating tangible AI revenue over those still in the capex-heavy promise phase.