S&P 500, Nasdaq close at records on tech lift, Iran peace talk hopes

Published Sat, Apr 25, 2026 · 07:32 AM

[NEW YORK] The S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed at record highs on Friday (Apr 24), bolstered by optimism for possible negotiations between the US and Iran to end their war and a surge in Intel shares that extended the rally in semiconductor stocks.

Pakistani government sources said that Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araqchi, was expected in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, on Friday to discuss proposals for restarting peace talks.

In addition, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner will travel to Islamabad on Saturday morning for talks with Iran mediated by Pakistan.

Markets had rallied in recent weeks on hopes that a resolution to the Iran war was on the horizon, along with expectations of strong corporate earnings, but gains have been tempered this week as optimism for a peace deal dimmed, with the Strait of Hormuz remaining shuttered.

“The Iran thing feels kind of tenuous, we have had a lot of back and forth. I assume that will continue, but for now, some rays of sunlight,” said Jed Ellerbroek, portfolio manager at Argent Capital Management in St Louis, Missouri.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 79.61 points, or 0.16 per cent, to 49,230.71, the S&P 500 gained 56.68 points, or 0.8 per cent, to 7,165.08 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 398.09 points, or 1.63 per cent, to 24,836.60.

For the week, the S&P 500 gained 0.55 per cent, the Nasdaq rose 1.5 per cent, and the Dow fell 0.44 per cent.

Semiconductors, one of the market’s strongest performers on the year, continued to rally. The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor Index advanced 4.32 per cent to extend its record run of gains to 18 consecutive sessions. Intel surged 23.65 per cent to close at a record US$82.57 and was the best performer on the benchmark S&P index, following a better-than-expected revenue forecast for the second quarter.

“All the doubts and fears about the (return on investment) on the AI CapEx from the big tech companies – Amazon and Google and Microsoft and Meta – those concerns are fading real fast, and that’s propelling the chip stocks and the contractors and all the industrial companies,” said Ellerbroek.

Fellow chipmakers AMD and Arm both shot higher by about 14 per cent. Megacap Nvidia climbed 4.32 per cent and also closed at a record as it neared the US$5 trillion market valuation again. The S&P 500 technology index rose 2.46 per cent and was the best-performing of the 11 major S&P sectors. Tech stocks also managed to shrug off DeepSeek’s preview of its highly awaited new model.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq recorded a fourth consecutive week of gains, their longest streak since the fourth quarter of 2024. The Dow, however, snapped a three-week run higher.

Fed meeting awaited

Attention is also shifting to the Federal Reserve meeting next week, which will be scrutinised for clues on rate cuts and the central bank’s leadership succession. The US Justice Department is closing its investigation into Fed chair Jerome Powell, clearing an obstacle to the confirmation of Kevin Warsh, Trump’s pick to lead the central bank.

Markets were pricing in a roughly 39 per cent chance for a cut of at least 25 basis points at the Fed’s December meeting, according to CME’s FedWatch Tool, up from about 23 per cent in the prior session.

A strong start to earnings season has helped buttress stocks against volatile Iran news. Earnings growth expectations for the first quarter now stand at 16.1 per cent, according to LSEG data, up from 14.4 per cent at the start of April.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.47-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.38-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 34 new 52-week highs and eight new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 126 new highs and 90 new lows.

Volume on US exchanges was 17.81 billion shares, compared with the 18.39 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days. REUTERS