The stock market ended a constructive week on a subdued note, with the S&P 500 (-0.1%), Nasdaq Composite (+0.4%), and DJIA (-0.6%) spending today's session in a relatively tight range near their baselines.

It was a quiet day on the geopolitical front ahead of this weekend's talks between the U.S. and Iran that will be led by Vice President Vance. President Trump told The New York Post that the U.S. military will resume strikes against Iran if negotiations do not result in a deal, but that had little effect on stocks or oil prices. WTI crude traded in a stable range around the $98 per barrel mark, and crude oil futures settled today's session $1.34 lower (-1.4%) at $96.55 per barrel.

The market received a full slate of economic data this morning, which offered an early look at how the Iran conflict is affecting inflation and consumer sentiment readings. The headline March CPI reading (0.9%; Briefing.com consensus: 0.7%) came in hotter-than-expected due to the surge in energy prices, while the core reading (0.2%; Briefing.com consensus: 0.3%) was better than feared. Additionally, the preliminary reading for the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index for April fell to 47.6 (Briefing.com consensus: 52.0), though the market had a muted response to the report as nearly all responses to the survey were captured before the two-week ceasefire agreement announced on April 7.

Strength was mixed today, with four S&P 500 sectors finishing in positive territory.

The top-weighted information technology sector (+0.8%) captured the widest gain, which helped prevent further losses at the index level. Semiconductor stocks put together another strong showing after Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM 370.60, +5.11, +1.40%) reported upside Q1 revenues, which resulted in solid gains across large chipmakers such as Advanced Micro Devices (AMD 245.04, +8.40, +3.55%) and NVIDIA (NVDA 188.74, +4.84, +2.63%).

Super Micro Computer (SMCI 25.26, +2.04, +8.79%) and Coherent (COHR 307.50, +23.33, +8.21%) captured even wider gains, and the PHLX Semiconductor Index finished 2.3% higher.

Though not a component of the S&P 500, CoreWeave (CRWV 102.00, +10.00, +10.87%) posted another double-digit gain after announcing a multi-year agreement with Anthropic to support the development and training of its Claude family of AI models.

Conversely, Anthropic's launch of its Managed Agents platform weighed heavily on Akamai Tech (AKAM 91.35, -18.26, -16.66%) amid intensifying fears around AI-driven disruption of traditional SaaS and cloud workflows. The broader software space lagged again today, with the iShares GS Software ETF finishing 2.6% lower.

Elsewhere, solid gains in Amazon (AMZN 238.38, +4.73, +2.02%) and Tesla (TSLA 349.00, +3.38, +0.98%) helped the consumer discretionary sector (+0.6%) finish near the top of the leaderboard.

The Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF finished 0.4% higher, contributing to the outperformance of the market-weighted S&P 500 (-0.1%) relative to the S&P 500 Equal Weighted Index (-0.8%).

The materials (+0.6%) and real estate (+0.2%) sectors also captured gains, while the other seven S&P 500 sectors finished lower.

The defensive consumer staples (-1.4%) and health care sectors (-1.3%) were the worst performers, while the energy sector (-0.8%) lagged amid the stabilization in oil prices.

Meanwhile, the financials sector (-1.1%) also underperformed, but major banking names such as Goldman Sachs (GS 907.80, +4.08, +0.45%) and Citigroup (C 124.36, -0.56, -0.45%) were among the more resilient components ahead of their earnings releases next week.

Outside of the S&P 500, the Russell 2000 (-0.2%) and S&P Mid Cap 400 (-0.3%) charted modest losses.

Overall, AI-driven enthusiasm in semiconductor and mega-cap growth names helped offset broader weakness across most sectors, keeping the major averages relatively contained. Looking ahead, the market will remain highly attuned to any developments out of this weekend's U.S.-Iran talks, which could upend the progress stocks made this week.

U.S. Treasuries had a modestly lower showing on Friday, giving back a chunk of their midweek gains. The 2-year note yield settled up two basis points to 3.80% (-3 basis points this week), and the 10-year note yield settled up two basis points to 4.32% (-3 basis points this week). 

• S&P Mid Cap 400: +6.6% YTD
• Russell 2000: +6.0% YTD
• DJIA: -0.3% YTD
• S&P 500: -0.4% YTD
• Nasdaq Composite: -1.5% YTD

 Reviewing today's data:

• March CPI 0.9% (Briefing.com consensus 0.7%); Prior 0.3%, March Core CPI 0.2% (Briefing.com consensus 0.3%); Prior 0.2%
  • The key takeaway from the report is that headline inflation was driven by the index for energy, which rose 10.9% in March, and although core inflation was seemingly subdued in March, the concern is that the energy price shock will bleed through more to core inflation in April.
• February Factory Orders 0.0% (Briefing.com consensus 0.5%); Prior was revised to 0.0% from 0.1%
  • The key takeaway from the report is that factory orders weren't as flat as the headline suggests. On the contrary, they were quite strong when the volatile transportation component was excluded.
• April Univ. of Michigan Consumer Sentiment - Prelim 47.6 (Briefing.com consensus 52.0); Prior 53.3
  • The key takeaway from the report is that the fallout from the Iran conflict was the driver of the big drop in sentiment and big rise in year-ahead inflation expectations in April (note: nearly all responses to the survey were captured before the two-week ceasefire agreement announced on April 7).
• The Treasury Department reported a $164.1 billion deficit for March (Briefing.com consensus -$160.0 bln), which was a bit wider than the $160.5 billion deficit reported for March 2025. Receipts totaled $385.0 billion, while outlays reached $549.0 billion.
  
  • The key takeaway from the report is that net interest costs hit nearly $100 billion in March, trailing only Social Security payments as the government's largest outlay.