U.S. stocks closed out another winning week at record levels Friday as investors set aside geopolitical jitters and focused on a labor market that continues to defy expectations. The S&P 500 climbed 0.8% to 7,398.93, and the Nasdaq composite jumped 1.7% to 26,247.08 — both all-time highs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 12 points, or less than 0.1%, to 49,609.16.
The rally was fueled by a Labor Department report showing U.S. employers added 115,000 jobs in April. While the pace of hiring slowed from March, the figure was nearly double the consensus forecast from economists. The data extended the S&P 500’s winning streak to six consecutive weeks, the longest since 2024.
“The U.S. stock market has been blasting higher since late March, in part on hopes that the war will not mean a worst-case scenario for the global economy and that the Strait of Hormuz will reopen to allow oil tankers to deliver crude from the Persian Gulf again,” the Associated Press reported.
Those hopes remained tenuous on Friday. U.S. forces fired on and disabled two Iranian oil tankers after exchanging fire with Iranian forces overnight, the most recent escalation in the Strait of Hormuz. The month-old ceasefire that the United States has insisted is in effect has been undermined by repeated flare-ups, and the toll on energy markets has been persistent.
Brent crude, the international benchmark, settled at $101.29 a barrel, up 1.2% on the day. While that is well below the wartime peak above $119, it remains sharply elevated from the late-February price of roughly $70 before the conflict began.
Against that backdrop of higher fuel costs, U.S. corporate earnings have provided a powerful counterweight. Monster Beverage surged 13.6% after the energy drink maker topped Wall Street profit and revenue projections, benefiting from record international sales that accounted for 45% of its total. Akamai Technologies soared 26.6% after results edged past forecasts and the company announced a $1.8 billion, seven-year cloud infrastructure deal with an unnamed client, underscoring the boom in artificial-intelligence spending.
Not every AI-linked name rewarded investors. CoreWeave, which rents AI computing power over the cloud, saw its stock fall 11.4%. The company reported quarterly revenue that more than doubled year-over-year, but its net loss was larger than expected and the midpoint of its revenue forecast for the current quarter came in below analysts’ estimates.
In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note eased to 4.36% from 4.41% late Thursday and from 4.45% earlier in the week. The move lower followed a preliminary University of Michigan survey showing consumer sentiment stuck near its lowest level since 2022. Consumers said they were anxious about both high gasoline prices and tariffs, though their expectations for inflation over the coming year moderated slightly. The 10-year yield, however, remains well above the 3.97% level recorded just before the war began.
Stock markets abroad were broadly lower. Germany’s DAX fell 1.3% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.9%. South Korea’s Kospi was a notable exception, inching up 0.1% to its own record high.