Market Watch: Bank Results, Crude Oil, and Equity Rebound on the Radar

Quick Summary

• US equities notched their second consecutive week of gains, with the S&P 500 rising 3.5%, the Dow adding 3%, and the Nasdaq climbing 4.7%
• Major banks including JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and more are set to release quarterly earnings results this week
• March’s Consumer Price Index recorded the biggest monthly inflation rise since June 2022, fueled primarily by surging energy costs
• Crude oil is currently trading near $98 per barrel, though futures contracts indicate prices will fall to around $85 by July, a shift that could support higher stock valuations
• Software sector stocks have posted steep losses so far in 2026, while semiconductor equities have gained more than 20% year-to-date

(SeaPRwire) –   US stocks closed out their second straight week in positive territory as market participants shifted their focus to the kickoff of quarterly earnings season. For the week, the S&P 500 advanced 3.5%, the Dow gained 3%, and the Nasdaq rose 4.7%. All three major indexes remain in negative territory for the year, but are now less than 1% away from returning to break-even levels.

The coming week features a packed earnings calendar. Goldman Sachs will publish its results on Monday. JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Wells Fargo are set to report on Tuesday. Bank of America and Morgan Stanley will release earnings on Wednesday, while Netflix and Taiwan Semiconductor are scheduled to post results on Thursday.

#earnings for the week of April 13, 2026 https://t.co/hLn2sKQhEY $NFLX $TSM $GS $JPM $ASML $BLK $MS $BAC $C $KMX $FAST $AA $JNJ $SCHW $SIFY $SLG $JBHT $PGR $FITB $FBK $BK $PLD $NKLR $PEP $SURG $TFC $RF $WFC $SFNC $TRV $PNC $MTB $HOVR $CFG $CNS $ABT $ALLY $HOFT $LAKE $MAMA… pic.twitter.com/JFbFzQdWcB

— Earnings Whispers (@eWhispers) April 10, 2026

Markets are also closely monitoring ongoing geopolitical events. Peace talks between the US and Iran held in Pakistan over the weekend did not yield a formal peace agreement, after Iranian officials declined to commit to halting nuclear weapons development, Vice President JD Vance announced late Saturday.

America is waking up to some major news.

Peace talks between the US and Iran have failed and both sides have returned home.

As a result, Iran is refusing to reopen the Strait of Hormuz without a permanent peace agreement and the US has called it “bad news” for Iran.

Now, we…

— The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) April 12, 2026

Oil Prices Remain the Top Indicator to Monitor

Ever since the outbreak of the US-Iran conflict, oil prices have been the most closely tracked metric across global markets. West Texas Intermediate crude settled at nearly $98 per barrel on Friday, a sharp jump from the roughly $68 per barrel price point seen before the conflict began.

That said, July delivery futures are currently pricing WTI at roughly $85 per barrel. Julian Emanuel, an analyst at Evercore ISI, noted that WTI prices in the “low-to-mid $80s” would be sufficient to eliminate the current downward pressure on equities.

The two-week ceasefire agreement reached between the US, Israel and Iran lifted market sentiment last week. The sustainability of that ceasefire will determine the future trajectory of oil prices, and by association, the performance of the broader stock market.

The CPI report released Friday showed that overall prices increased 0.9% in March, marking the largest monthly uptick since June 2022. Economists pointed out that the majority of that price growth was linked to the sharp rise in energy costs spurred by the ongoing conflict.

The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index fell to an all-time low in April, though 98% of the survey responses were gathered prior to the ceasefire announcement.

Software Sector Equities Slide as Semiconductor Stocks Post Gains

The performance divergence across different segments of the stock market has grown more pronounced. The iShares Software Sector ETF dropped more than 7% last week, and is now down 30% for 2026 to date.

Salesforce is the largest contributor to the sector’s losses, having fallen more than 35% in 2026. AppLovin, Intuit and ServiceNow have each lost more than 40% of their value so far this year, while Microsoft, Palantir and Oracle are each down over 25%.

Semiconductor stocks have delivered the opposite performance trend. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF has gained more than 20% so far this year. Intel, Applied Materials, Lam Research and Marvell Technologies have each posted gains of more than 50% year-to-date.

ASML is scheduled to report earnings on Wednesday, while Taiwan Semiconductor will release its results on Thursday. Taiwan Semiconductor issued preliminary strong revenue figures for March last week, signaling that demand for AI-related chips remains robust.

Netflix is also slated to report its quarterly results on Thursday, capping off a very busy week of corporate earnings releases.