US Stock Market Summary – April 29, 2026

Facing the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) rate decision and earnings from the four mega-cap tech names simultaneously on April 29, the three major US equity indexes closed in a narrow range, as if deferring a verdict. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the session down 280 points (-0.57%) at 48,861.81; the S&P 500 slipped -0.04% to 7,135.95; and the Nasdaq Composite edged up +0.04% to 24,673.24, posting essentially flat closes. The Volatility Index (VIX) climbed 2.3% to 18.24, reflecting caution in the options market, while the Fear & Greed Index held at 64, still in "Greed" territory. With the Fed holding the policy rate at 3.5–3.75% on an 8–4 split vote and international crude piercing $115 a barrel on Strait of Hormuz risk, the market was primed to treat Alphabet's, MSFT's, Amazon's, and Meta's earnings, released after the close, as the pivot point that would determine the directional bias for the final trading day of April.

The Energy sector's ($XLE) +2.29% rally was overwhelming. As US–Iran tensions flared, the $USO ETF surged +7.9% and Brent crude posted multiple multi-week highs, pulling capital into integrated oil names such as Chevron, ConocoPhillips, and Occidental. The Technology sector ($XLK) gained +0.8% as last-minute buying came in on mega-cap tech earnings expectations, and the semiconductor ETF (SOXX) jumped +2.57%, with leaders AMD (+4.3%), Intel (+12.14%), and Seagate (+11.1%) driving memory and CPU strength. On the other side, Health Care ($XLV) -0.7% was weighed down by weakness across Eli Lilly (-2.61%), Abbott (-2.7%), and Intuitive Surgical (-2.75%), while Industrials ($XLI) -0.61% reflected softness in Boeing (-2.86%), GE Aerospace (-1.95%), and GE Vernova (-2.37%). In the bond market, the hawkish hold pressured duration: $TLT (20+ Year Treasuries) fell -0.79% and $IEF (7–10 Year) -0.47%, as the long end absorbed renewed upward pressure on yields. Among traditional safe havens, gold ($GLD) dropped -1.07%, silver ($SLV) -2.05%, and platinum (PPLT) -3.02%, with precious metals broadly weaker, while natural gas ($UNG) -1.74% and uranium (URA) -2.47% were left out of the oil-led rally, underscoring the divergence.

The day's upside narrative was clearly led by Intel and Visa. Intel ($INTC) extended its rally with a +12.14% gain; following its surprise earnings release on April 24, the stock continued to attract buyers as data center and AI strength was repriced higher. Seagate ($STX) soared +11.1%, extending the semis and storage tailwind, and Visa ($V) jumped +8.26% on the back of an earnings beat from the prior day's release, with fiscal Q2 revenue up 17% and EPS of $3.31 (consensus +7%). Mastercard ($MA) +3.47%, T-Mobile ($TMUS) +6.13%, AMD ($AMD) +4.3%, ConocoPhillips ($COP) +3.16%, and AbbVie ($ABBV) +3.14% also advanced. On the downside, Boeing ($BA) -2.86%, Intuitive Surgical ($ISRG) -2.75%, Abbott ($ABT) -2.7%, Eli Lilly ($LLY) -2.61%), IBM ($IBM) -2.55%, NextEra ($NEE) -2.42%, GE Vernova ($GEV) -2.37%, and Goldman Sachs ($GS) -2.26% landed among the top 100 largest-cap decliners.

In the mega-cap tech earnings released just after the close, Alphabet topped consensus on both EPS and revenue, supported by strength in its cloud segment. Amazon also delivered upside, with AWS revenue exceeding market expectations, and the stock moved higher in after-hours trading. Microsoft's Azure cloud growth came in roughly in line with expectations, while Meta, despite an earnings beat, guided capital expenditures higher to a range of $125 billion to $145 billion, sending the stock tumbling -7% in after-hours trading.

> Key events for the next trading day will be displayed automatically.

> "The current backdrop of solid economic growth, sticky inflation, and a stable labor market does not justify a rate cut."

> — Ellen Zentner, Chief Economic Strategist at Morgan Stanley Investment Management

> "The Fed is likely to maintain its 'wait-and-see' stance. With the Iran conflict ongoing, forecasting both inflation and growth has become particularly difficult."

> — Brendan Juric, Chief Economist at Johnson Investment Counsel

> "Rising oil prices will lift headline inflation in the near term. How much of that passes through into core inflation is the key question for global markets."

> — Jerome Powell, Chair of the Federal Reserve

Across today's 8 group / 4 indicator scan covering 240 tickers, mega-cap tech and semiconductors showed clear RSI and Stochastic overbought readings, while Health Care, defense, and select blue-chips flashed increasingly oversold RSI and Stochastic signals. Combined with concentrated MACD golden crosses in the Energy sector and the after-hours mega-cap tech prints still to be digested, tomorrow's session is likely to see steeper sector-level rotation. View the Technical Signals Report