S&P 500 Notches Longest Winning Run Since October: Markets Wrap
(Bloomberg) — Wall Street traders drove stocks higher as oil closed below $100 after Israel agreed to direct talks with Lebanon, bolstering expectations that a US ceasefire deal will hold.
Equities extended gains into a seventh straight day, with the S&P 500 notching its longest winning run since October. That’s despite a selloff in software shares. US crude settled near $98 on hopes for a de-escalation in strikes that have prompted Iran to keep the Strait of Hormuz largely blocked.
President Donald Trump said he was “very optimistic” about a deal with Iran, though issues such as Israel’s offensive in Lebanon and the opening of Hormuz remain unresolved.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to hold direct talks with Lebanon, with the focus on disarming Tehran-aligned Hezbollah. Trump has asked him for a scale-back in strikes to ensure the success of negotiations with Iran, NBC News reported.
“Not much matters for the market other than the durability of the ceasefire, shipping volume through the Strait of Hormuz and ultimately, whether a bona fide permanent deal is struck,” said Bradford Smith at Janus Henderson Investors.
That’s all happening at a time when data showed the US economy expanded at a slower pace than previously estimated in the final months of 2025. Consumer spending barely rose in February amid persistent inflation that’s set to accelerate due to the war.
“Even before the war, inflation pressures were especially acute in health care and financial services,” said Jeff Roach at LPL Financial. “We are a long way off from material improvement.”
The latest figures don’t reflect the recent surge in energy prices, but Friday’s consumer price index will capture some of that impact, noted Bret Kenwell at eToro. Economists project a 0.9% increase in CPI — the sharpest one-month advance since 2022.
A separate report Thursday showed recurring applications for US jobless benefits fell to the lowest level in almost two years, adding to evidence of stabilization in the labor market.
“We still see low numbers of those filing for unemployment benefits,” Roach said. “The labor market is holding steady amid a slowdown, which gives the Fed some time to wait.”
Corporate Highlights:
A $7 billion private credit fund managed by Carlyle Group Inc. capped redemptions after investors asked to pull 15.7% of the shares in the first quarter. CoreWeave Inc. has struck another, much larger $21 billion deal to supply computing power to Meta Platforms Inc. through 2032, deepening its business with the social media giant that’s trying to catch up in the race to build more powerful artificial intelligence models. Intel Corp., trying to promote the use of its technology in data centers, said Alphabet Inc.’s Google has committed to using future generations of its Xeon processors and other chips. Pacific Investment Management Co. is looking to sell a portion of the $14 billion of debt financing it’s providing for a massive Oracle Corp. data center in Michigan, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Chevron Corp. said its production fell as much as 6% in the first quarter due in part to the Iran war, echoing a similar disclosure from Exxon Mobil Corp. earlier this week. What Bloomberg Strategists say…
“The 6,800 level on the S&P 500 is again the battleground zone as the market weighs the credibility of conciliatory headlines against lingering skepticism.”
—Michael Ball, Macro Strategist, Markets Live. For the full analysis, click here.
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
The S&P 500 rose 0.6% as of 4 p.m. New York time The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.7% The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.6% The MSCI World Index rose 0.3% Currencies
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.2% The euro rose 0.3% to $1.1699 The British pound rose 0.3% to $1.3436 The Japanese yen fell 0.3% to 159.10 per dollar Cryptocurrencies
Bitcoin rose 1% to $72,115.91 Ether rose 0.4% to $2,217.92 Bonds
The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.29% Germany’s 10-year yield advanced four basis points to 2.99% Britain’s 10-year yield advanced four basis points to 4.75% Commodities
West Texas Intermediate crude rose 5.1% to $99.21 a barrel Spot gold rose 1.1% to $4,771.03 an ounce ©2026 Bloomberg L.P.
