The market had another good week, with the S&P 500 (+2.3%) and Nasdaq Composite (+4.5%) climbing deeper into record territory as semiconductor and mega-cap stocks led the way higher. Participation was relatively broad, with the Russell 2000 (+1.7%) and S&P Mid Cap 400 (+1.7%) both advancing. The Nasdaq Composite outperformed meaningfully thanks to a powerful rally across semiconductors and AI-related names, while the DJIA (+0.2%) lagged amid weakness in defensive sectors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Geopolitical tensions and fluctuations in oil prices remained key drivers throughout the week. Stocks started the week lower on renewed hostilities between the U.S. and Iran, briefly sending crude oil above $106\/bbl, before easing tensions and improving optimism over negotiations helped oil retreat sharply by the end of the week. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Technology stocks were the clear leaders throughout the week. The technology sector surged 7.0%, while the PHLX Semiconductor Index rocketed 11.1% higher amid another wave of AI-driven enthusiasm and strong earnings growth. NVIDIA (NVDA) climbed 8.4%, while names such as Advanced Micro Devices, Intel, Micron, and Sandisk posted outsized gains across the semiconductor space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Software stocks also delivered solid relative strength, with the iShares Expanded Tech-Software ETF climbing 5.2% following several strong post-earnings reactions. Meanwhile, the Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF advanced 4.0%, underscoring that much of the S&P 500\u2019s strength was driven by mega-caps. That same mega-cap strength carried into other growth-sensitive areas of the market. The communication services (+1.9%) and consumer discretionary (+1.8%) sectors both posted solid gains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, falling oil prices pressured the energy sector (-5.4%), which finished as the week\u2019s weakest-performing S&P 500 sector. Utilities (-4.0%) and financials (-1.4%) also lagged as investors rotated toward higher-beta growth and technology exposure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":15928,"template":"","categories":[479,666],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24026","opinion-article","type-opinion-article","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research-en","category-financial-analysis"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/creandgroup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/opinion-article\/24026","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/creandgroup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/opinion-article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/creandgroup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/opinion-article"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/creandgroup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15928"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/creandgroup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24026"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/creandgroup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24026"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/creandgroup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24026"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}