Notable market news this past week (26-Apr-26)
Here is the Skeptivest roundup of the latest market headlines for the week
🌍 Three-week ceasefire extension offers markets a brief reprieve, lifting sentiment
The latest situation in the Iran conflict remains highly fluid, with a fragile ceasefire in place but little real progress toward a lasting resolution. Diplomatic efforts have stalled in recent days, as planned US-Iran talks broke down over key issues such as sanctions relief and the US naval blockade, leaving both sides entrenched in a hardline stance. Militarily, although large-scale strikes have eased under the ceasefire, tensions remain elevated with continued skirmishes and aggressive rules of engagement, including U.S. orders to target Iranian vessels laying mines, keeping the risk of renewed escalation high. Tensions are also centred on the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran has intermittently restricted access, seized vessels, and deployed mines, while the US has responded with a naval blockade and active operations to intercept ships and clear those mines. This has effectively created a “dual blockade,” severely disrupting shipping flows.
Markets rebounded on renewed hopes for a restart in US-Iran talks, which helped ease the risk-off sentiment seen earlier in the week and triggered a modest pullback in safe-haven demand. However, this relief appears largely sentiment-driven, as underlying geopolitical tensions remain unresolved. As a result, while equities have found some near-term support, the persistence of supply-side risks is maintaining an embedded geopolitical premium across oil and broader commodities. This, in turn, reinforces concerns around inflation and could complicate the policy outlook, suggesting that markets are likely to remain highly sensitive to further developments on both the diplomatic and military fronts.
☕️ Quick fire happenings to note
🌏 Global macro
- US consumer risk sentiment deteriorated sharply in April, with the latest University of Michigan sentiment index falling to a record low of 47.6 in the preliminary reading, before being revised slightly higher to 49.8 in the final release, still marking the weakest level in the survey’s history. Sentiment fell across all demographic groups, underscoring a broad-based drop in consumer optimism. The decline was driven by widespread deterioration in both current conditions and expectations, reflecting rising concerns over inflation, the economic impact of the Iran conflict, and weakening household confidence.
- Big Tech and large corporates continued to announce further rounds of job cuts, with companies including Meta, Microsoft, and Nike among those reducing headcount as part of ongoing cost optimisation and restructuring efforts. Reports indicated that more than 20,000roles were impacted, as Meta said it would cut 10% of its employees while Microsoft will offer voluntary retirement to about 7% of workers, underscoring the scale and breadth of the adjustment. The layoffs come amid growing concerns around AI-driven productivity gains, as firms increasingly look to streamline operations, improve efficiency, and prioritise profitability in a more uncertain macroeconomic environment.
- South Korea’s monetary policy backdrop turned more nuanced, with the appointment of Shin Hyun-song as the new Bank of Korea Governor, who signalled a more “flexible” approach to policy amid rising external uncertainties. The Korean won remained under pressure, and was Asia’s worst-performing currency in the first quarter, weakening over 5% against the US dollar in Q1, while import prices surged around 16% in March, raising concerns over imported inflation. Meanwhile, the country’s GDP surprised to the upside in Q1 2026, expanding 1.7% q/q vs market expectations of 0.9% q/q, driven primarily by a strong rebound in semiconductor exports amid AI-related demand.
🏦 Individual stocks/companies
- Intel Corp (+20.01% past 5D) shares saw a sharp rally on the back of a strong Q1 2026 earnings and upbeat guidance, with revenue rising about 7% y/y to ~US$13.6bnand adjusted EPS of $0.29, significantly above expectations, driven by stronger-than-expected demand in its data centre and AI-related CPU segments. The results were supported by improving execution in its foundry business and rising pricing power in key product lines, reinforcing optimism around its ongoing turnaround story.
- SK Hynix Inc (+6.45% past 5D) shares saw significant volatility over the past week despite strong earnings, with the stock initially trading lower on high expectations before stabilising and gradually recovering alongside broader Korean tech strength. The semiconductor company reported a record-breaking Q1 2026 earnings beat, with revenue surging +198%y/y to about KRW 52.6tn and net profit reaching KRW 40.3tn, driven by exceptionally strong demand for AI-related high bandwidth memory (HBM) chips. The results underscored the ongoing AI-driven memory super-cycle, with management highlighting that demand continues to outpace supply, particularly from data centre and AI infrastructure customers.
- Webull Corp (+3.45% past 5D) shares surged ~19% in a single session after the US move to scrap the long-standing $25,000 minimum equity requirement for day trading accounts, a regulation that had previously limited active trading to higher-balance retail investors. The policy change is expected to significantly expand the addressable user base for online brokerage platforms like Webull by opening up intraday trading access toa much larger pool of smaller retail investors. The market reaction reflects expectations that lower entry barriers could drive a meaningful increase in trading activity, account openings, and transaction volumes, potentially boosting commission and interest-related revenues for retail-focused brokerages.
🇸🇬 Singapore related
- Singapore’s inflation surprised modestly to the upside, with core inflation accelerating to 1.7% y/y in March from 1.4% y/y in February, while headline inflation rose to 1.8% y/y, up from 1.2% y/y in the previous month, largely driven by higher fuel and transport costs. Meanwhile, Q1 GDP grew 4.6% y/y but missed expectations and slowed from the prior quarter of 5.7% y/y, pointing to softer external demand despite still-resilient activity. The mix of weaker growth and sticky inflation highlights a more delicate balance for Singapore between supporting growth and managing imported cost pressures amid ongoing global uncertainty.
