Wall Street closed the week of May 9, 2026, in record territory. The S&P 500 crossed 7,300 for the first time, finishing Friday at roughly 7,399 — its sixth consecutive weekly gain and the longest such streak since October 2024. The Nasdaq Composite surged past 26,000 to settle near 26,247, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged higher by 12 points to 49,609.
A confluence of factors drove the rally: a blowout April jobs report, a surprise Apple-Intel chip partnership, and a clean sweep of earnings beats from all seven Magnificent Seven stocks. Oil prices fell sharply on reports of renewed Iran peace talks, easing inflation fears. The result was the broadest, most sustained advance U.S. equities have seen in more than 18 months.
The Numbers Behind the Streak
The S&P 500 gained 2.3% for the week, adding to a cumulative run that has lifted the benchmark index roughly 14% from its April lows. The Nasdaq outperformed with a weekly gain of 4.5%, its strongest five-day stretch since early February. The Dow, weighed down by its heavier exposure to industrials and healthcare, managed only a marginal advance but remains within striking distance of 50,000.
The six-week winning streak is notable for its consistency. In each of the past six weeks, the S&P 500 posted a gain of at least 0.5%, a pattern last observed in the fall of 2024 when post-election enthusiasm and Federal Reserve rate cuts carried markets higher through the fourth quarter.
Trading volumes rose above 30-day averages on four of the five sessions this week, suggesting institutional participation rather than a thin, momentum-driven rally.
Jobs Data Surprised to the Upside
Friday’s catalyst was the April nonfarm payrolls report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The economy added 115,000 jobs, well above the consensus estimate of roughly 65,000 and a welcome signal after several months of softening labor data. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.3%.
The report landed in what traders call the “Goldilocks zone” — strong enough to ease recession fears, but not so hot that it would force the Federal Reserve to reconsider its current rate stance. Markets had been pricing in two rate cuts before year-end, and the April jobs data did little to change that calculus.
For a deeper breakdown of the employment figures, including sector-level hiring trends and wage growth data, see our full April jobs report analysis.
Apple-Intel Chip Deal Ignites Tech
The week’s most consequential headline came Tuesday morning, when Apple and Intel jointly announced a multi-year agreement for Intel to manufacture a custom chip for future MacBook and iPad lines. The deal, reported to be worth upward of $9 billion over four years, sent Intel shares up more than 16% on the session and lifted the broader semiconductor complex.
Apple’s stock gained 4.2% for the week. The partnership is widely viewed as a strategic hedge for Apple, which has relied almost exclusively on TSMC for its custom silicon since transitioning away from Intel processors in 2020. For Intel, the contract validates years of investment in its foundry business under CEO Pat Gelsinger’s turnaround plan.
The ripple effects were immediate. The PHLX Semiconductor Index (SOX) jumped 5.8% for the week. Nvidia, already the world’s most valuable public company, added another 3.1% and now approaches a market capitalization of $5.2 trillion. The chipmaker’s dominance in AI training hardware continues to attract institutional inflows, even as its valuation stretches further into uncharted territory.
Apple’s results from the prior week — record revenue of $111 billion in fiscal Q2 — had already set an optimistic tone for the stock. The Intel deal extended that momentum.
Magnificent Seven: A Clean Sweep
All seven Magnificent Seven stocks — Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, Nvidia, Meta, and Tesla — beat Wall Street earnings estimates in the first quarter of 2026. That outcome, while expected by many market participants, removed a major source of uncertainty that had kept some institutional investors on the sidelines.
The collective earnings performance of these companies is covered in detail in our Big Tech earnings recap. The key takeaway: AI-related capital expenditure is accelerating across the group, with combined capex guidance for 2026 exceeding $320 billion. Cloud revenue at Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud all grew above 30% year-over-year.
Tesla was the relative outlier. The electric vehicle maker beat on earnings per share but reported a 6% decline in automotive revenue. Its stock nonetheless rallied 8% for the week on optimism around its robotaxi licensing program and a new battery supply agreement with Panasonic.
Oil Drops on Iran Diplomacy
Crude oil prices fell sharply in the back half of the week after multiple outlets reported progress in indirect talks between the United States and Iran over Tehran’s nuclear program. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude settled near $93 per barrel on Friday, down from $98 at the start of the week. Brent crude dropped to roughly $101.
The decline eased one of the market’s persistent headwinds. Elevated energy prices had contributed to sticky inflation readings in March and early April, complicating the Federal Reserve’s path toward rate cuts. A sustained pullback in oil, should diplomatic efforts continue, would remove a key variable from the inflation equation.
Energy stocks underperformed as a result. The S&P 500 Energy sector fell 2.4% for the week, making it the only sector to post a loss. Exxon Mobil and Chevron each declined more than 3%.
Market Breadth Is Improving
One of the more encouraging developments in recent weeks has been the broadening of market participation beyond the mega-cap technology names that dominated returns in 2024 and 2025.
The equal-weighted S&P 500, which strips out the outsized influence of the largest stocks, has gained ground in each of the past four weeks. The Russell 2000 index of small-cap stocks rose 1.8% this week, outpacing the Dow and narrowing its year-to-date gap with the S&P 500.
Financials gained 2.1% for the week, supported by expectations that a steepening yield curve will boost bank net interest margins in the second half of the year. JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Goldman Sachs all hit 52-week highs.
Healthcare also showed signs of life, rising 1.5% as several biotech names rallied on positive clinical trial data. The sector had been a laggard for much of 2026, weighed down by regulatory uncertainty around drug pricing.
This broadening matters. Rallies that rely on a narrow group of stocks tend to be fragile. The expanding participation suggests the current advance has firmer footing, though analysts caution that sustained breadth requires continued improvement in economic data.
Risks on the Horizon
Despite the streak, the market faces a compressed calendar of potential catalysts in the week ahead.
CPI Report — May 12. The April Consumer Price Index is due Monday morning. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expect headline CPI to come in at 3.1% year-over-year, down from 3.3% in March. A hotter reading could rattle bond markets and pressure equity valuations, particularly in rate-sensitive sectors.
Trump-Xi Summit — May 14-15. President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are scheduled to meet in Geneva for two days of trade and security talks. Markets are pricing in a modest easing of tariff tensions, but the summit carries downside risk if discussions break down. The current U.S. tariff rate on Chinese goods remains at 145%, and any signal that further escalation is possible could weigh on multinational earnings outlooks.
Warsh Confirmation. Kevin Warsh’s confirmation hearings as the next Federal Reserve Chair continue in the Senate Banking Committee. Warsh, a former Fed governor, is expected to be confirmed, but his testimony could move markets if he signals a departure from the current policy trajectory. His views on the neutral rate and balance sheet reduction will be closely watched.
Earnings This Week. Several large-cap names report results, including Alibaba (Tuesday), Cisco Systems (Wednesday), Applied Materials (Thursday), and JD.com (Thursday). Alibaba’s report will be read as a barometer of the Chinese consumer economy, while Applied Materials’ guidance could shed light on semiconductor equipment demand.
What the Data Shows
The six-week rally has pushed the S&P 500’s forward price-to-earnings ratio to roughly 23.4 times, above its 10-year average of 18.6. Valuations are elevated, but earnings growth has kept pace — S&P 500 earnings per share grew an estimated 12.8% year-over-year in Q1 2026, according to FactSet, marking the seventh consecutive quarter of double-digit growth.
Corporate buyback authorizations have also accelerated. Through the first four months of 2026, S&P 500 companies announced $387 billion in share repurchase programs, on pace to exceed last year’s record of $1.05 trillion.
Credit markets remain supportive. Investment-grade corporate bond spreads sit near 90 basis points over Treasuries, close to their tightest levels in two years. High-yield spreads have narrowed as well, suggesting that fixed-income investors see limited near-term stress in corporate balance sheets.
The Week Ahead in Context
The S&P 500’s push above 7,300 marks a psychological milestone, but the index’s trajectory in the coming weeks will depend on whether the macro backdrop continues to cooperate. The CPI print on Monday sets the tone. If inflation continues to moderate, the case for mid-year rate cuts strengthens, and equities likely extend their advance. If prices prove stickier than expected, the six-week streak could face its first real test.
For a broader look at how the market reached this point, including the prior week’s record-setting session, see our S&P 500 and Nasdaq all-time highs recap.
The data through Friday paints a picture of an economy that is cooling gradually rather than contracting abruptly — the scenario most favorable to risk assets. Whether that picture holds depends on a busy week of reports, diplomacy, and policy signals.
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