By Andrew Moran
The S&P 500 index rallied to a fresh record high on April 15 as U.S. stocks extended their rebound from last month’s war‑driven sell-off.
The benchmark index jumped by almost 0.8 percent, or 55 points, to 7,022 at the market close. It has surged by more than 3 percent over the past week and is now up by 2.5 percent this year.
Technology stocks also are rallying midweek, with the Nasdaq composite index soaring by more than 376 points, or 1.59 percent, to 24,016.
The Nasdaq is poised for the best 11-session stretch in history, surging by about 2,400 points this month. Year-to-date, the popular tech-heavy index has risen by 3 percent.
The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average was little changed, closing at 48,463. It is up by 0.83 percent this year.
“Markets are incredibly reflexive in that we can go from deep oversold oscillator readings to overbought in the matter of [two] weeks,” Ken Mahoney, president and CEO of Mahoney Asset Management, told The Epoch Times in an emailed note.
“If you told someone when we were plunging down below 6,400 that we would be touching into 6,900 in a couple weeks, most likely they would have a hard time believing you.”
Wall Street investors have signaled hope regarding a potential end to the Iran war, which is approaching its eighth week.
Traders reacted, in part, to President Donald Trump signaling that the war is “very close to over,” saying that Tehran wants to “make a deal very badly.”
“I think it’s close to over,” the president said. “I view it as very close to over. If I pulled up stakes right now, it would take them 20 years to rebuild that country, and we’re not finished.”
He said the stock market will “boom” once the conflict is resolved.
Energy markets have stabilized this week on optimism surrounding an end to the war.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil—the U.S. benchmark for prices—slid by 0.3 percent to $91 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. U.S. crude has dropped by about 10 percent this week.
Domestic natural gas prices continue to remain unaffected by the conflict, trading at about $2.61 per million British thermal units.
Tailwinds Ahead
But although stocks could be pricing in an end to the conflict, market analysts say there are other tailwinds supporting the equities arena.
Strong corporate earnings, tax refunds, and a stable job market are some of the components supporting the rally, said Nancy Tengler, CEO and chief investment officer at Laffer Tengler Investments.
“During previous sell-offs like this, the index has been up 100 percent of the time over the next three months,” Tengler said in a note emailed to The Epoch Times.
Average tax refunds have risen by 11 percent from a year ago to almost $3,500, according to data from the IRS.
Employment data suggest that employers could be expanding their hiring efforts.
The economy added 178,000 jobs in March, well above the consensus forecast of 60,000. The unemployment rate also fell to 4.3 percent.
Private employers also added an average of 39,250 jobs per week in the four weeks ending on March 28, according to data from ADP Research published on April 14.
This marks the fourth consecutive week of hiring improvement and the best reading since the payroll processor launched the series in September 2025.
“So for now, there is not a ton of concern and you cannot have a recession without huge job losses,” Mahoney stated. “So if no rate hikes and no runaway inflation, which we think is possible, no recession, no bear market.”
Traders no longer pencil in the Federal Reserve tightening monetary policy in 2026. Futures markets expect the Fed to stay on hold for the rest of the year and to keep the current target range of 3.5 percent to 3.75 percent.
Other Markets
The greenback’s risk premium continued to fade in the middle of the trading week.
The U.S. dollar index—a gauge of the buck against a weighted basket of currencies, including the Japanese yen and the British pound—dipped by 0.1 percent. The index is now down by 0.3 percent this year, after rising by as much as 2 percent.
Yields on U.S. Treasury securities were mostly up, with the benchmark 10-year jumping by two basis points, to 4.28 percent. The 30-year firmed above 4.89 percent.
Gold and silver prices eased by 0.5 percent and 0.1 percent, respectively.
The leading cryptocurrencies were up significantly, including bitcoin (0.8 percent) and Ethereum (2.4 percent).
