Weekly Chartstopper: April 24, 2026

Markets were driven this week by geopolitical risk, resilient U.S. economic data and strong corporate earnings. The Iran conflict and tightening Strait of Hormuz boosted Brent crude from about $85 to $105/barrel, while prediction-market odds of a peace deal fell sharply. U.S. macro releases were surprisingly firm (retail sales +0.6% in March; April PMIs above 50), supporting risk assets. The Nasdaq-100 rallied ~2% to a fresh record, aided by robust Q1 results (Nasdaq-100 on pace for ~24% YoY earnings growth) including standout beats from Tesla and Intel. Fed-related developments — Kevin Warsh’s confirmation progress and the DOJ dropping a probe into Powell — reduced political overhang. Treasury yields ticked higher (10-year ~4.3%). Key near-term catalysts include a busy earnings week (GOOG, MSFT, AMZN, META, AAPL) and upcoming Fed/PCE data, which could sway risk-on sentiment amid ongoing geopolitical uncertainty.