{"id":12755,"date":"2026-05-01T07:29:20","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T07:29:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hazelbakerfinancial.com\/weekly-market-performance-may-1-2026\/"},"modified":"2026-05-01T07:29:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T07:29:20","slug":"weekly-market-performance-may-1-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/advisors3.bradcable.com\/hazelbakerfinancial\/weekly-market-performance-may-1-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Weekly Market Performance | May 1, 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"
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LPL Research<\/a> | Last Updated: May 01, 2026<\/p>\n

LPL Research provides its Weekly Market Performance for the week of\u00a0April\u00a027,\u00a02026.<\/b>\u00a0U.S. equities advanced for a fifth straight week despite cautious sentiment driven by geopolitical uncertainty\u00a0in the Middle East, rising oil prices, and mixed reactions to AI-related developments and earnings.\u00a0However, markets\u00a0ultimately focused\u00a0on positive takeaways and a broadly upbeat earnings backdrop. Global equities\u00a0also gained ground, with Europe supported by steady central bank policies and\u00a0a\u00a0late-week\u00a0drop in oil futures, while Asia extended gains\u00a0broadly on the back of tech strength.\u00a0Fixed income markets faced pressure from fiscal concerns, partially offset by improved demand from March\u2019s weak outcomes.\u00a0Commodity markets were led by\u00a0continued gains in oil, while the yen rallied on\u00a0likely intervention.<\/p>\n

Stock Index Performance<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Index<\/b><\/td>\nWeek-Ending<\/b><\/td>\nOne Month<\/b><\/td>\nYear to Date<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
S&P 500<\/b><\/td>\n0.95%<\/td>\n10.01%<\/td>\n5.67%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Dow Jones Industrial<\/b><\/td>\n0.71%<\/td>\n6.47%<\/td>\n3.15%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Nasdaq Composite<\/b><\/td>\n1.24%<\/td>\n15.12%<\/td>\n8.18%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Russell 2000<\/b><\/td>\n0.79%<\/td>\n11.81%<\/td>\n13.18%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
MSCI EAFE<\/b><\/td>\n0.47%<\/td>\n3.69%<\/td>\n6.48%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
MSCI EM<\/b><\/td>\n0.50%<\/td>\n11.93%<\/td>\n17.09%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

S&P 500 Index Sectors<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Sector<\/b><\/td>\nWeek-Ending<\/b><\/td>\nOne Month<\/b><\/td>\nYear to Date<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Materials<\/b><\/td>\n-1.51%<\/td>\n1.60%<\/td>\n12.33%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Utilities<\/b><\/td>\n0.89%<\/td>\n1.08%<\/td>\n9.16%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Industrials<\/b><\/td>\n0.55%<\/td>\n5.47%<\/td>\n11.83%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Consumer Staples<\/b><\/td>\n1.08%<\/td>\n3.38%<\/td>\n10.00%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Real Estate<\/b><\/td>\n0.96%<\/td>\n7.88%<\/td>\n10.38%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Health Care<\/b><\/td>\n0.96%<\/td>\n-1.59%<\/td>\n-6.05%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Financials<\/b><\/td>\n1.16%<\/td>\n5.31%<\/td>\n-5.02%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Consumer Discretionary<\/b><\/td>\n0.80%<\/td>\n11.72%<\/td>\n2.21%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Information Technology<\/b><\/td>\n0.22%<\/td>\n17.89%<\/td>\n8.20%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Communication Services<\/b><\/td>\n4.42%<\/td>\n16.34%<\/td>\n9.87%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Energy<\/b><\/td>\n3.53%<\/td>\n-0.65%<\/td>\n31.05%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Fixed Income and Commodities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Indexes and Commodities<\/b><\/td>\nWeek-Ending<\/b><\/td>\nOne Month<\/b><\/td>\nYear to Date<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate<\/b><\/td>\n-0.50%<\/td>\n0.10%<\/td>\n0.07%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Bloomberg Credit<\/b><\/td>\n-0.59%<\/td>\n0.33%<\/td>\n-0.09%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Bloomberg Munis<\/b><\/td>\n-0.35%<\/td>\n0.92%<\/td>\n0.97%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Bloomberg High Yield<\/b><\/td>\n-0.09%<\/td>\n1.31%<\/td>\n1.19%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Oil<\/b><\/td>\n8.19%<\/td>\n2.01%<\/td>\n77.86%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Natural Gas<\/b><\/td>\n10.38%<\/td>\n-1.21%<\/td>\n-24.44%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Gold<\/b><\/td>\n-1.77%<\/td>\n-2.78%<\/td>\n7.10%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Silver<\/b><\/td>\n0.14%<\/td>\n1.00%<\/td>\n5.82%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Source: LPL Research, Bloomberg 5\/1\/26 @3:13 p.m. ET
\nDisclosures: Indexes are unmanaged and cannot be invested in directly.<\/i><\/p>\n

U.S. and International Equities<\/h2>\n

U.S. Equities:\u00a0<\/b>Cautious sentiment kept traders from making outsized moves for most of the week, with Magnificent Seven earnings and geopolitical developments at the forefront.\u00a0Higher oil prices,\u00a0lingering uncertainty around the Strait of Hormuz, and artificial intelligence\u00a0(AI)\u00a0jitters on OpenAI missing internal goals\u00a0pressured\u00a0major averages. However,\u00a0Wall Street bulls persevered\u00a0for a\u00a0fifth straight weekly advance for the S&P 500.\u00a0Investors shook off canceled negotiations\u00a0and a ramp in U.S.-Iran rhetoric to focus on better-than-expected results from four\u00a0of\u00a0corporate America\u2019s five\u00a0main\u00a0AI\u00a0hyperscalers\u00a0(amid a broadly blockbuster earnings season thus far). Strength in\u00a0first quarter economic data through the headwinds of the Iran conflict and reports of a fresh proposal from Tehran also helped drive\u00a0late-week\u00a0gains.<\/p>\n

In earnings,\u00a0Google-parent company Alphabet (GOOG\/L)\u00a0stated\u00a0cloud and AI offering\u00a0demand\u00a0remains\u00a0high, boosting confidence that massive investments are paying off, while Amazon (AMZN) rose on strong sales results for\u00a0its\u00a0Amazon Web Services unit. Meta (META), however, faced some scrutiny around spending after flagging rising\u00a0component\u00a0and data center costs, while Microsoft\u2019s (MSFT) cloud growth\u00a0failed to\u00a0inspire.\u00a0Plus,\u00a0Apple (AAPL) rallied after the iPhone maker posted a surprisingly strong revenue forecast.<\/p>\n

International Equities:\u00a0<\/b>The European benchmark STOXX 600 Index edged higher over\u00a0a\u00a0holiday-shortened\u00a0week for many markets.\u00a0Higher crude prices acted as an overhang\u00a0for most\u00a0of the\u00a0week,\u00a0denting sentiment before stocks rebounded\u00a0as upward pressure on oil prices eased\u00a0late in the week.\u00a0Key monetary policy decisions were\u00a0also\u00a0among\u00a0focal points.\u00a0The U.K.\u2019s FTSE 100 Index rallied Thursday after the Bank of England held rates\u00a0and\u00a0Governor Andrew Bailey\u00a0stated\u00a0holding rates is a \u201creasonable place\u201d to be \u2014 but suggested hikes\u00a0remain\u00a0on the table\u00a0in the event of\u00a0a continued energy supply disruption. Shortly thereafter, the European Central Bank also left rates unchanged, awaiting more clarity on economic implications of the U.S.-Iran conflict.<\/p>\n

Asian equities capped a fourth week of\u00a0gains amid\u00a0holiday-thinned\u00a0trading Friday.\u00a0Japanese markets ended mixed, paring back gains\u00a0as the yen strengthened\u00a0as a result of\u00a0verbal\u00a0and suspected physical intervention\u00a0from central bankers in Tokyo\u00a0for the first time since 2024. This followed the Bank of Japan holding rates\u00a0steady\u00a0and offering some\u00a0hawkish-leaning\u00a0takeaways two days prior.\u00a0Meanwhile, amid a busy earnings\u00a0calendar,\u00a0investors continued\u00a0to favor\u00a0AI-related\u00a0names and suppliers on strong earnings growth expectations,\u00a0powering outperformance for Korea.\u00a0Taiwan\u00a0ended little changed\u00a0and\u00a0Hong Kong fell, while\u00a0Greater China\u00a0rose\u00a0with some support from upbeat earnings from rare earth and insurance names.<\/p>\n

Fixed Income, Currency, and Commodity Markets<\/h2>\n

Fixed Income: <\/b>Core bonds, measured by the Bloomberg Aggregate\u00a0Index,\u00a0traded\u00a0lower this week.\u00a0A couple of moving parts drew attention and\u00a0weighed on\u00a0weekly\u00a0performance, one being\u00a0the lingering overhang of\u00a0fiscal risks.\u00a0Fitch Ratings\u2019 April 30 rating affirmation highlighted U.S. deficits running far above other\u00a0double\u2011A\u00a0peers, with deficits near ~7% of gross domestic product in 2026\u201327 and debt exceeding 120% of gross domestic product. Fitch cited tax cuts under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, limited tariff offsets, and rising\u00a0age\u2011related\u00a0spending as key pressures, noting November\u2019s midterm elections as pivotal for fiscal credibility.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, this week\u2019s\u00a0$183 billion\u00a0slate of two\u2011, five\u2011, and\u00a0seven\u2011year\u00a0Treasury auctions showed improved demand versus March\u2019s weak outcomes, with\u00a0bid\u2011to\u2011cover\u00a0ratios back to normal ranges. The results align with Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee (TBAC) observations of broadly resilient demand, though a compressed auction calendar and ongoing supply fatigue capped performance.\u00a0The juxtaposition of Fitch\u2019s warning and smoothly clearing auctions suggests markets can still absorb elevated issuance. However, history shows this resilience can fade quickly if deficit expectations\u00a0rise\u00a0or investors demand greater risk compensation.<\/p>\n

Overall,\u00a0Treasury markets\u00a0remain\u00a0orderly, but the system is\u00a0running on\u00a0borrowed confidence. Auctions continue to clear, allowing fiscal deterioration to be deferred rather than addressed.\u00a0In our view, with markets\u00a0arguably complacent\u00a0relative\u00a0to the scale and persistence of deficits,\u00a0longer\u2011dated\u00a0yields are biased to remain elevated \u2014 or move higher \u2014 as fiscal risks reassert themselves.<\/p>\n

Commodities and Currencies: <\/b>The broader commodities complex\u00a0gained ground this week with energy prices firmly\u00a0remaining\u00a0in the\u00a0driver’s\u00a0seat.\u00a0With Tehran still blocking the Strait of Hormuz and the U.S. Navy blocking Iranian crude exports, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and Brent crude prices\u00a0rallied back near recent highs\u00a0amid some caution\u00a0from analysts that several countries may face acute oil shortages soon. Nonetheless, futures prices trimmed weekly gains on Friday\u2019s\u00a0report\u00a0of Iran\u2019s latest proposal to Washington. Also of note, U.S. crude exports scored fresh records with global buyers as the globe turns to American producers to offset the\u00a0supply crunch. Gold prices\u00a0eased\u00a0and silver spot prices edged higher. In currencies, yen intervention drove strength in the Japanese currency.\u00a0The moves came after the yen\u00a0weakened\u00a0through the physiologically important 160 yen per dollar threshold\u00a0as a wide U.S.-Japan rate differential continues to favor the dollar following this week\u2019s central bank decisions.\u00a0The U.S. dollar weakened.<\/p>\n

Economic Weekly Roundup<\/h2>\n

Fed Rate Decision.<\/b>\u00a0In a dramatic twist for Chair Powell, three regional presidents dissented, not over the rate decision itself, but over how it was communicated. Expect\u00a0additional\u00a0tension as a new Fed\u00a0chair\u00a0attempts to implement a new policy regime.<\/p>\n