S&P 500 Posts Sixth Consecutive Weekly Gain as Earnings, Jobs Data, and Corning-Nvidia Deal Lift Markets

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed at record highs Friday, extending their winning streaks to six consecutive weeks — their longest such runs since 2024 — as investors weighed a stronger-than-expected jobs report, a wave of solid corporate earnings, and cautious optimism surrounding the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

For the week, the S&P 500 rose 2.3% while the Nasdaq gained 4.5%, with both indexes benefiting from declining oil prices and falling bond yields, a combination that has supported equity markets in recent months.

The April nonfarm payrolls report, released Friday, showed 115,000 jobs added last month — well above the 55,000 economists had forecast, but below the 185,000 positions created in March. The unemployment rate held at 4.3%.

The stronger-than-expected print complicated the Federal Reserve's rate outlook, reinforcing the case for patience on rate cuts even as consumer sentiment deteriorated. The University of Michigan's early May reading on consumer sentiment fell to a new low, with surging gas prices linked to the Iran conflict cited as a contributing factor.

The Fed's next policy decision comes as Chairman Jerome Powell's term approaches its end on May 15, with Kevin Warsh — Trump's nominee to succeed Powell — advancing through Senate confirmation. Warsh has been a public advocate for lower interest rates.

The Iran war continued to dominate market attention. Reports emerged Wednesday that the United States and Iran were nearing a 14-point memorandum of understanding to end the conflict, but the following day both sides reported exchanging fire in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint for global oil transport. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters Friday morning that a response from Iran on the latest peace proposal was expected that day; no announcement had been made by Saturday afternoon. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has indicated Iran will be on the agenda at next week's Beijing summit between President Donald Trump and China's President Xi Jinping.

In the cybersecurity sector, CrowdStrike and Palo Alto Networks each posted sharp weekly gains — approximately 16% and 15%, respectively — after firewall provider Fortinet raised its full-year billings guidance. Investors interpreted Fortinet's report as a positive indicator for the broader cybersecurity industry, which has faced pressure this year amid concerns about AI-driven disruption to software spending.

The week's top individual performer was Corning, whose shares surged 18% after the company announced a multiyear supply agreement with Nvidia and outlined an ambitious financial outlook at an Investor Day presentation. Corning projected an annualized sales run rate of $20 billion exiting 2026, representing a 15% compound annual growth rate from the fourth quarter of 2023 through the fourth quarter of 2026. Its most optimistic long-range scenario targets a $40 billion annualized revenue rate exiting 2030.

As part of the Nvidia agreement, Corning said it will open three new U.S. manufacturing facilities to produce optical fiber technologies, grow domestic optical connectivity manufacturing tenfold, and increase fiber production capacity by 50%.

"We're going through the single largest infrastructure buildout in human history," Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said in a televised interview following the announcement.

Corning CEO Wendell Weeks added that deals with two previously unnamed hyperscalers are "larger" than the company's existing $6 billion agreement with Meta Platforms.

Nvidia itself gained 8.4% for the week, while Whirlpool moved sharply in the other direction, falling 20% after the company cut forward guidance and suspended its dividend — a result analysts said illustrated the uneven demand picture facing lower-end consumer and housing-related businesses.

With the Beijing summit approaching and Iran peace negotiations at a critical juncture, markets head into next week carrying both momentum and a considerable degree of geopolitical uncertainty.

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