The S&P 500 added 2.3% to a fresh all-time closing high at 7,398.93, marking a sixth consecutive week of gains and lifting year-to-date returns to 8.1%. The advance came on deal news and earnings. Intel and Apple reportedly reached a preliminary agreement under which Intel will manufacture chips for Apple devices, extending the Intel re-rating that began the prior week. April nonfarm payrolls came in at 115,000 versus 65,000 expected with the unemployment rate steady at 4.3%. Q1 2026 blended S&P 500 earnings growth ran at 27.7% year-over-year and 84% of reporters beat EPS estimates, the strongest beat rate since Q2 2021. The technology sector gained 7%. Energy dropped 5.4% and utilities lost 4% as Brent stabilized near $100 from the prior week's $113-115 range, completing the ceasefire-driven energy unwind.
Sector dispersion ran wider than at any point in 2026 this week. The spread between technology and energy cleared 12 percentage points in five sessions. The Intel-Apple supply agreement validated the legacy-semiconductor re-rating thesis and triggered follow-through bids across the chip complex. Meanwhile, Cloudflare dropped 14% on a 1,100-employee restructuring tied to AI automation, a reminder that the AI-spend story is bifurcating into hardware beneficiaries and software margin victims. Record Q1 results closed the earnings season with the highest blended growth rate since Q4 2021 and a record 13.4% net profit margin across the index. For micro-cap allocators, this is the strongest quarter-end earnings backdrop in five years.
Coverage ledger: NEOV continues to scale its renewable infrastructure pipeline as energy markets reprice from the prior conflict premium. CXDO benefits from the IT services tailwind reflected in the broader technology sector's 7% weekly advance. Full dossiers in the research library.