Markets opened the week lower on Monday as renewed skirmishes raised concerns about the stability of the Iran ceasefire. Despite early pressure and elevated volatility throughout the week, major indices rebounded strongly and finished substantially higher.
Investors navigated a busy week of economic reports, with strong corporate earnings and encouraging economic data helping to fuel gains. Better-than-expected employment numbers reinforced confidence in the resilience of the economy and contributed to positive market momentum.
Emerging markets posted the strongest gains for the week, followed closely by the Nasdaq 100, as investors continued to favor growth-oriented sectors.
Treasury Yields
- 30-year Treasury: 4.939% (lower)
- 10-year Treasury: 4.362% (lower)
Mortgage Rates
- Average 30-year fixed (Freddie Mac): 6.37% (higher)
Commodities & Currency
- Crude oil: $95.40 per barrel (much lower)
- Natural gas: $2.42 (lower)
- U.S. dollar index: 97.91 (lower)
- Gold: $4,728.10 per ounce (higher)
- Silver $81.19 per ounce (higher)
Federal Reserve
- Consumer Credit +5.8% March (Annual Rate)
- Revolving +9.1%
- Non-revolving +4.7%
S&P Global April Purchasing Manager’s Indices, >50=expansion, <50=contraction
- Mexico manufacturing fell from 47.7 to 48.9
- China manufacturing rose from 50.8 to 52.2
- China services rose from 52.1 to 52.6
- Eurozone manufacturing rose from 51.6 to 52.2
- Eurozone services fell from 50.7 to 48.8
- U.S. services fell from 51.0 to 49.8
- Canada services rose from 47.2 to 49.2
- Japan services fell from 53.4 to 51.0
Commerce Department
New Orders for Manufactured Goods (March) +1.5%
Goods and Service Trade Deficit +4.4% (March)
Monthly New Residential Sales
- +7.4% March
- +3.3% from March 2025
- Inventory of new homes for sale -0.4% March
- Months of supply = 8.5
- Median Sales Price = $387,400, -4.4% March and -6.2% March 2025
Construction Spending +0.6% March, +1.6% year
Labor Department
Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (March)
- Openings 6.87MM down from revised 6.92MM in February
- Hiring rate 3.5% up from 3.1% in February
- Quits 2%
- Layoffs 1.2%
April Jobs Report
- Nonfarm payroll employment +115,000
- Unemployment unchanged at 4.3%
- Average hourly earnings +0.2% to $37.41
- Year over year +3.6%
- Average workweek +0.1 hours to 34.3 hours
- February jobs revised down to -156,000
- March jobs revised up to +178,000
Productivity and Costs (Annualized Rates)
- Productivity +0.8% Q1, 2.9% year
- Output +1.5% Q1, +3.3% year
- Hours Worked +0.7% Q1, +0.4% year
- Hourly Compensation +3.1% Q1, +4.2% year
- Real hourly compensation -0.5% Q1, 1.4% year
- Unit Labor Costs +2.3% Q1, +1.2% year
Jobless Claims (prior week)
- New Claims 200,000 (higher)
- 4-week Moving Average 203,250 (lower)
- Total Claims 1,766,000 (lower)
Energy & Industry Data
Energy Information Administration
- Weekly Oil Production 13.573 million barrels (lower)
- Natural Gas Storage +63 billion Cu.Ft., above average for this time of year over the past 5 years.
Baker Hughes Rig Count
- Oil rigs: +2 at 410
- Gas rigs: -1 at 129
Factset reported with 84% of S&P 500 companies reporting, blended Q1 earnings are up 27.7% from a year ago.
(All data was released the week of 05/04/2026)
(All monthly statistics are seasonally adjusted unless stated otherwise).
If you have questions about the markets or your financial plan, we’re always here to help.
Loren Rex – Emeritus
Erik A Smith, AIF® – President & C.E.O.
Nicholas Acri, CFP® – Partner & Wealth Advisor
Dylan Thomas, CFP® – Partner & Wealth Advisor
Jack Zeeb – Wealth Advisor
These are the opinions of Loren Rex and Erik Smith and are not necessarily those of Cambridge, are for informational purposes only, and should not be construed or acted upon as individualized investment advice. The Indices mentioned are unmanaged and cannot be invested into directly. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, Dow Jones, or simply the Dow, is a stock market index of 30 prominent companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States. The DJIA is one of the oldest and most commonly followed equity indexes. The Nasdaq Composite is a stock market index that includes almost all stocks listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange (more than 2500 stocks).
Sources:
https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=WCRFPUS2&f=W
https://ir.eia.gov/ngs/ngs.html
https://www.freddiemac.com/pmms
https://www.wsj.com/market-data?mod=nav_top_subsection
https://bakerhughesrigcount.gcs-web.com/na-rig-count
https://www.census.gov/economic-indicators
https://www.pmi.spglobal.com/Public/Release/PressReleases
