What’s News in Markets: Cease-Fire Stocks, Airlines Soar, Intel and Elon

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Hey, listeners. It's Saturday, April 11th. I'm Jared Mitovitch for the Wall Street Journal. And this is What's News in Markets, our look at the biggest stock moves of the week and the news that drove them. Let's get to it. Investors kept their eyes on the Middle East this week, which began with increasingly dire warnings from President Trump that he would escalate the war in Iran. Stocks stayed mostly muted as traders bet on another taco scenario, where Trump backs away from stated threats at the last minute. That's what they got Tuesday evening when the president announced a two-week ceasefire with Iran only 90 minutes before his deadline. News of a ceasefire sent the major antics of soaring, though the truce is on shaky ground due to Israel's continued attacks on Lebanon. Traders are also watching the outcome of talks scheduled for today between Tehran and Washington and Pakistan. In the meantime, markets got a read on how surging oil prices from the war are affecting everyday prices and souring consumer sentiment. On Friday, the March CPI report showed prices up 3.3% from a year earlier, the largest annual increase since May 2024 Almost three quarters of the monthly increase was driven by higher gas costs. Meanwhile, consumer sentiment fell this month to the lowest level recorded in the history of the University of Michigan survey. Still, stocks entered the week higher, with the Dow up 3%, the S&P 500 up 3.6%, and the tech-heavy NASDAQ index up 4.7%.

As the war with Iran moved markets, the fragile ceasefire was a boon for some stocks and a bust for others. Among the winners were data storage companies, with investors hoping the Middle East pause would unlock supplies of helium needed for chip production. The war has delayed natural gas exports from Qatar, which supplies about a third of the world's helium. For the week, Micron Technology ended up 14.8% and Standisk was up 21.4%, making it the second best performer in the S&P 500 On the flip side, energy stocks didn't get a boost from the ceasefire news. On Wednesday, shares of major oil companies like ExxonMobil, Shale-Juller Apache, and natural gas exporter Chenier all sold off on hopes that energy supplies would soon resume flowing through the Strait of Hormuz. For the week, Exxon finished 5.1% lower, Apache's parent company was down 8.1%, and Chenier ended 5.6% lower.

Airlines are another sector confronting the immediate fallout from the Iran War. And earnings this week from Delta, the world's most valuable airline, shed light on how the industry is faring. On Wednesday, the carrier reported its first loss in three years and said its fuel costs increased $330 million year over year in the first quarter. Delta estimated those costs would soar by $2 billion in the second quarter. Like others in the industry, Delta has raised luggage fees, a step American Airlines also took this week to combat the rapid run up in jet fuel costs. The airline has also upped fare prices and scaled back flights, so far without scaring off customers. It expects a 10% increase to its booked flights this coming quarter. Delta also has another trick up its sleeve. Its own refinery in Pennsylvania that processes crude into jet fuel. On Wednesday, Delta shares ended the trading day up almost 4%. Other airline stocks posted even bigger gains. For the week, Delta finished almost 1.6% higher. And finally, the biggest winner in Markets this week is Intel, a piece of good news for the US government, which holds an equity stake in the chipmaker's business. On Tuesday, Intel said it was partnering with Elon Musk on his ambitious TerraFat project, which will build what the company called ultra-high-performance chips for SpaceX, Tesla, and XAI. The partnership is a win for Intel, which has struggled in recent years to compete with rivals like Nvidia and AMD. To bolster the company, the Trump administration last year struck a deal to take an equity stake in Intel for around $9 billion. As of mid-March, the US government held 8.4% of Intel shares outstanding. On Tuesday, those shares gained more than 4%. And by week's end, the stock had risen nearly 24%, the best performance in the S&P 500 And now you know What's News in Markets this week. You can read about more stocks that moved on the week's news in our live markets coverage on wsj.com. Today's show was produced by Alexis Green with supervising producer Jana Heron. I'm Jared Mitovich. Have a great weekend and see you next Saturday.