LPL Research provides its Weekly Market Performance for the week of April 6, 2026.Markets rebounded during the first full week of April as easing geopolitical tensions drove a broad risk‑on rally across global assets. U.S. and international equities advanced on optimism surrounding a temporary U.S.–Iran ceasefire and cooling energy prices, while fixed income markets found support amid a mixed, but reassuring slate of Treasury auctions. Commodities retreated from recent highs, particularly crude oil, as ceasefire developments ebbed supply fears and the geopolitical risk premium, and the dollar softened, helping precious metals extend gains.

Stock Index Performance

S&P 500 Index Sectors

Fixed Income and Commodities

Source: LPL Research, Bloomberg 4/10/26 @3:23 p.m. ET
Disclosures: Indexes are unmanaged and cannot be invested in directly.

U.S. and International Equities

U.S. Equities: Geopolitically driven trading continued over the first full week of April, with ceasefire negotiations on the front burner throughout the last five days. There was no shortage of headline noise with news flow highly volatile around the odds of a deal being struck ahead of the White House’s deadline last Tuesday night and threats of escalation if the cutoff was missed. After murmurs of progressing talks lifted stocks into positive territory in the final minutes of Tuesday trading, risk appetite returned in earnest Wednesday in response to a two-week U.S.-Iran ceasefire. Markets responded favorably to the temporary accord, which buys time for both sides to reach a longer-term agreement, and helped alleviate investor worries of economic impacts as oil prices plummeted. From there, stocks shrugged off more headline noise around a potential breach of the agreement and shaky durability of the truce to continue the relief rally to post straight gains for the S&P 500, before wavering slightly ahead of the Saturday’s meeting between Washington and Tehran in Pakistan.

On the macro front, the first glimpse of consumer price pressures during the conflict was generally well received, with March Consumer Price Index (CPI) results matching consensus’ expectations for rises in inflation last month. Outside of geopolitics, artificial intelligence (AI) and tech shares returned to the headlines on fresh chip and compute deals, as well as investor chatter around improved positioning and relative valuations. Although, weakness in software names continued as AI disruption angst crept back into focus.

International Equities: The holiday-shortened week in Europe didn’t hold back a relief rally of its own as the STOXX 600 Index jumped over 3% over the last four days. Cooling tensions in the Mideast were easily the largest directional driver this week, with traders subsequently paring back rate hike expectations from the European Central Bank and the Bank of England flagged as another tailwind. The risk-on mood was further supported after Ukraine’s top negotiator with Moscow remarked on progress toward a potential deal with the Kremlin on Friday.

Peace talks in the Middle East also spurred risk-on sentiment across the Asia-Pacific region, with benchmarks for Taiwan and South Korea leading gains for the region, aided by technology enthusiasm driving 8%+ advances. Further, Seoul was supported by President Lee Jae Myung offering a proposal to ease housing price pressures, and an extra 26.2 trillion won budget from parliament to mitigate war-related impacts. Elsewhere, homegrown tech excitement lifted greater China on optimism around DeepSeek’s upcoming model launch. In Japan, the tech-heavy Nikkei posted a strong gain while the Topix was a relative laggard as investors analyzed a Bank of Japan warning around potential economic effects from the conflict and energy supply disruption.

Fixed Income, Currency, and Commodity Markets

Fixed Income:Core bonds, measured by the Bloomberg Aggregate Index, traded higher with a full slate of auctions in focus in addition to the U.S.-Iran ceasefire. After last week’s poor Treasury auction showing, this week’s results were mixed but reassuring. The Treasury Department auctioned $58 billion of three‑year notes, $39 billion of 10‑year notes, and $22 billion of 30‑year bonds. 

Strong demand at the short end delivered the cleanest result of the week for the three-year auction. Investors were willing to reach for front‑end duration even amid war uncertainty. That’s not surprising given the three‑year’s limited exposure to fiscal and inflation tail risks, but it was reassuring, nonetheless. The 10‑year sale, however, was adequate but not inspiring. A modest tail suggests the market required a bit more yield concession to clear the deal. In a week when the ceasefire narrative was shifting in real time, “nearly met expectations” is probably the best outcome one could have hoped for. This shouldn’t be read as a sign of health, but rather as evidence that the market is still price‑discovering within a new risk regime. And for the long-bond, demand was slightly softer following several strong 30-year auctions in recent weeks. Still, a yield of 4.876% remains relatively attractive for long‑duration buyers with 5% as the level that has seemed to hold during market sell-offs. The softness is understandable though, as longer maturities are more sensitive to growth, inflation risks, and fiscal concerns. Foreign demand held, with the most important takeaway is that foreign buyers did not visibly step back. 

The ceasefire, not the auctions, was the real market maker. The sharp mid‑week decline in yields meant Thursday’s 30‑year auction priced into a fundamentally different rate environment than Monday’s setup. That was a meaningful tailwind, but it also complicates the read on true underlying demand. This week’s results represent relief, not a reset, and the fiscal math hasn’t changed, keeping buyers cautious about adding significant duration at current levels.

Commodities and Currencies:The broader commodities complex snapped a string of gains, dropping as traders grappled with the latest developments in the Persian Gulf. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude prices were on track for their biggest loss in months on optimistic, yet cautious, expectations of the conflict in Iran coming to an end following Tuesday night’s temporary truce. Prices pulled back from weekly highs around $117 per barrel to trade near $98, a steep drop, but floored due to a very limited Strait of Hormuz re-opening (and Iran’s reported mulling of tolling ships) and some lingering uncertainty around upcoming U.S.-Iran and Israel-Lebanon negotiations. Plus, the natural delay between the departure and arrival of shipments means supply relief will take time. Elsewhere, gold prices extended last week’s bounce to eye a third straight weekly gain as the dollar faced downside pressure and traders began to open the door to a chance of a Fed rate cut again. In physical markets, demand in India ticked up and Chinese retail demand softened. Silver outperformed the yellow metal, but still trailed a solid week for copper. 

Economic Weekly Roundup

March Consumer Price Index Release:As expected, headline consumer inflation rose on the back of a war in the Middle East and a shutdown of a major chokepoint in energy transportation.

• Not surprisingly, headline inflation rose 0.9% of which at least eighty percent was energy-related and more than that if you include the spike in airfares.
• Core services inflation ex-housing rose 0.18%, the lowest monthly gain in almost a year. The trajectory is encouraging here and should not be overlooked.
• Second-order effects from the energy crisis impacted the transportation sector which has a 16% weight in the index. 
• Both medical care and used vehicle prices declined in March. We need to see a consistent moderation in health care prices before we become more convinced that inflation will eventually hit the Fed’s target by next year.

Since the Hormuz chokepoint was closed for an extended period, we should expect another one or two hot inflation prints, driven by transportation services and some durable goods categories. The second-order effects will likely add another 0.2 over the next few months. The Fed clearly is on hold for the next several meetings.

The Week Ahead

The following economic data is slated for the week ahead:  

• Monday: Existing Home Sales (Mar)
• Tuesday: NFIB Small Business Optimism (Mar), ADP Weekly Employment Change (Mar 28), Headline and Core PPI (Mar)
• Wednesday: MBA Mortgage Applications (Apr 10), Empire Manufacturing (Apr), Import and Export Price Indexes (Mar), NAHB Housing Market Index (Apr), Total Net TIC Flows (Feb), Net Long-Term TIC Flows (Feb), Leading Index (Feb), Fed Beige Book Release
• Thursday: New York Fed Services Business Activity (Apr), Initial Jobless Claims (Apr 11), Philadelphia Fed Business Outlook (Apr), Continuing Claims (Apr 4), Industrial Production (Mar), Manufacturing (SIC) Production (Mar), Capacity Utilization (Mar)
• Friday: No economic releases scheduled