STRAIGHT FROM THE TRADING FLOOR
by Eric Criscuolo
Published on 4/17/26 (a/o 9:00)
Good morning and Happy Friday,
The S&P 500 continued to reach new record highs yesterday after resetting the history book on Wednesday. The index added 0.3%, the equal-weight rose 0.5% and the Russell climbed 0.2%. The modest gains occurred despite crude rising ~4%. That put the Energy sector in the lead for the day, with Real Estate, Tech and Utilities also among the leaders. Healthcare and Industrials were the main laggards. After a few days of incremental news flow on Iran, there been some major news over the past 24 hours. Yesterday a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon was announced, paving the way for this morning’s news. Axios reported that the US was considering releasing $20 billion of Iran’s frozen funds in return for Iran giving up its enriched nuclear stockpile. That sent S&P futures up and crude down another level. Right after that news, Iran’s Foreign Minister Araghchi posted that in line with the ceasefire in Lebanon, the passage for all commercial vessels through Strait of Hormuz is declared completely open for the remaining period of ceasefire…” S&P futures, already up modestly, ripped higher and oil fell out of bed.
Yields and the Dollar are falling on the news.
Brent crude is doing the Tom Petty, freefalling from already lower levels on the ceasefire news flow (Brent -10%). Precious metals are moving higher. Ag is lower. Roughly half of the US is drought conditions. Crypto is moving higher.
European equities are extending their prior modest gains. Unlike the US, Japan wasn’t able to follow up on its own freshly minted record highs as the Nikkei dropped almost 2% to end the week. There didn’t seem to be any major catalysts for the weakness, other than profit-taking after the runup to the record. The index pulled back after sniffing 60k. In China both the Hang Seng and Shanghai indexes fell. Both are hovering just above their 50d ma. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the country is looking to double its supply of non-fossil fuel energy by 2035.
Earnings:
After-Market: AA, CNS, FNB, LAKE, NFLX, VALE
Pre-Market: ALLY, ALV, FITB, RF, STT, TFC
Economic Data:
US:
The S&P 500 continued to reach new record highs yesterday after resetting the history book on Wednesday. The index added 0.3%, the equal-weight rose 0.5% and the Russell climbed 0.2%. The modest gains occurred despite crude rising ~4%. That put the Energy sector in the lead for the day, with Real Estate, Tech and Utilities also among the leaders. Healthcare and Industrials were the main laggards. After a few days of incremental news flow on Iran, there been some major news over the past 24 hours. Yesterday a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon was announced, paving the way for this morning’s news. Axios reported that the US was considering releasing $20 billion of Iran’s frozen funds in return for Iran giving up its enriched nuclear stockpile. That sent S&P futures up and crude down another level. Right after that news, Iran’s Foreign Minister Araghchi posted that in line with the ceasefire in Lebanon, the passage for all commercial vessels through Strait of Hormuz is declared completely open for the remaining period of ceasefire…” S&P futures, already up modestly, ripped higher and oil fell out of bed.
Yields and the Dollar are falling on the news.
- US 2yr -8bps to 3.70%, 5yr -9bps to 3.83%, 10yr -9bps to 4.23%, 30yr -8bps to 4.86%
- USD index: -$0.47 to $97.56
Brent crude is doing the Tom Petty, freefalling from already lower levels on the ceasefire news flow (Brent -10%). Precious metals are moving higher. Ag is lower. Roughly half of the US is drought conditions. Crypto is moving higher.
European equities are extending their prior modest gains. Unlike the US, Japan wasn’t able to follow up on its own freshly minted record highs as the Nikkei dropped almost 2% to end the week. There didn’t seem to be any major catalysts for the weakness, other than profit-taking after the runup to the record. The index pulled back after sniffing 60k. In China both the Hang Seng and Shanghai indexes fell. Both are hovering just above their 50d ma. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the country is looking to double its supply of non-fossil fuel energy by 2035.
Earnings:
After-Market: AA, CNS, FNB, LAKE, NFLX, VALE
Pre-Market: ALLY, ALV, FITB, RF, STT, TFC
Economic Data:
US:
- Fed Speakers: Barkin (12:15pm)
- 1:00pm Rig Count
- Europe Trade Balance: €11.5B vs €11.7B cons, prior €-1.0B
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