MARKET SNAPSHOT
U.S. stocks ended little changed, recovering from an early selloff, as investors headed to the sidelines ahead of the long holiday weekend that includes a monthly payrolls report. Treasury yields moved lower ahead of a holiday-shortened Friday session. Oil prices rallied after President Trump vowed to hit Iran "extremely hard" in the coming weeks. Gold futures fell as the dollar strengthened.
MARKET WRAPS
EQUITIES
Wall Street on Thursday gave its verdict on President Trump's latest attempt to sell Americans on the war with Iran: Traders didn't love what they heard.
In a Wednesday prime time address, the president assured that the U.S. would eventually end the war with Iran and that the Strait of Hormuz would "open up naturally" thereafter. But Trump also pledged to hit Iran "extremely hard" in the coming weeks, sending oil prices surging above $100 a barrel and unwinding a two-day "Hormuz Hope" rally.
The remarks failed to satisfy jittery investors who hoped to hear a clear timeline to exit the conflict-and get 10 million barrels of oil a day flowing again through the Persian Gulf.
"Markets kind of took a step back and said, 'OK, maybe we're not on the off ramp as much as we thought we were,'" said Brad Long, chief investment officer at Wealthspire.
The major U.S. stock indexes fell sharply on the opening bell before recovering most of those losses by midday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 0.1%, while the Nasdaq rose 0.2%. The S&P 500 ticked up 0.1%.
Asian markets extended losses earlier Thursday as President Trump's speech offered no clarity on the end to the Middle East conflict.
South Korea's Kospi sank 4.5% as chip, auto and construction stocks retreated.
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average lost 2.4%, giving up early gains as President Trump appeared to have fallen short of offering a clear timeline to end the war in Iran.
Losses in China were less dramatic as the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.7% and the Shenzhen Composite Index settled 1.6% lower. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was down 0.7%. The tech-focused ChiNext Price index dropped 2.3%. China's equity markets offer investors good diversification and resilience amid geopolitical tensions in Iran, HSBC analysts said.
Australia's benchmark stock index finished 1.1% lower after a mid-session reverse, spurred by Trump's speech. The S&P/ASX 200 was coming off its best day in almost a year, and was up 0.6% just before Trump began speaking.
New Zealand's S&P/NZX 50 Index, however, rose 0.6%.
COMMODITIES
Oil futures rose sharply as traders went into the holiday weekend seeing greater risk of near-term escalation in the Persian Gulf than easing of tensions.
"The market doesn't like long weekends," said Rebecca Babin of CIBC Private Wealth US.
After falling the previous two sessions on cautious expectations the U.S. could quickly wrap up operations in the Gulf, prices soared after President Trump's warnings of stepped up strikes.
"Generally speaking, weekends haven't been kind to de-escalation," Babin said. At the same time, downside risks have to be considered. "This is a sentiment market and sentiment can change quickly. This could turn on a heartbeat."
WTI for May delivery settled up 11% at $111.54 a barrel, a nearly four-year high. The June Brent contract rose 7.8% to $109.03 a barrel.
Gold futures fell 4.2% to settle at $4,612.30 a troy ounce. Despite that, gold futures closed the week 3.5% higher.
TODAY'S TOP HEADLINES
Trump Administration Unveils Up to 100% Tariff on Branded Drugs
The U.S. will impose tariffs of as much as 100% on branded pharmaceuticals, the White House said Thursday, though nations or drugmakers that strike deals with the Trump administration or commit to build manufacturing facilities in the U.S. can receive lower levies.
The 100% tariff will apply to patented imported pharmaceuticals from companies that haven't committed to invest in the U.S. and haven't entered into "most favored nation" agreements to match their U.S. prices to the lowest they charge in other developed countries, a senior administration official said Thursday.
But the full 100% tariff might apply to only a few drugmakers or none at all. If a company pledges to invest in U.S. drug manufacturing in the coming years, its tariff rate will fall to 20%, the senior administration official said. The company would have to complete the factory by the end of President Trump's term in the White House, the official said, or tariffs could be increased.
Trump Overhauls Metal Tariffs
WASHINGTON-The Trump administration said Thursday it would reshape its tariffs on steel, aluminum and copper products, altering duties on finished products to help simplify compliance. The net effect of the changes could effectively raise costs for many imports.
Under a presidential proclamation issued Thursday, finished products made with imported steel, aluminum and copper will be tariffed at 25%.
Rising Tesla Sales in First Quarter Didn't Beat Wall Street Expectations
Following a year marked by sluggish electric-vehicle sales, Tesla's deliveries were up 6.3% in the first quarter compared with the same period in 2025, but that result still missed Wall Street's expectations.
Tesla's final quarterly tally was 358,023 EVs delivered globally. Analysts had been expecting 368,900 deliveries, according to a consensus of 19 investment firms' estimates published by Visible Alpha.
Despite the growth from the year-ago quarter, it was Tesla's second-worst quarter of sales since 2022. Tesla stock closed down 5.4% on Thursday. Still, the results signal a stabilization of its auto sales, after sales fell sharply last year amid backlash against Chief Executive Elon Musk's political activism.
Amazon to Boost Fuel Surcharges on Third-Party Sellers as Costs Rise
Amazon.com announced Thursday it will impose a temporary 3.5% fuel and logistics surcharge on third-party sellers as the company grapples with elevated fuel costs during the Iran war.
Amazon informed sellers that the surcharge, which will go into effect on April 17, will be calculated on fulfillment fees, not on the sale price of items. Amazon said that on average it will equate 17 cents per unit for U.S. fulfillment by Amazon services.
The 3.5% surcharge will be applied to fulfillment by Amazon service in the U.S. and Canada, in addition to remote fulfillment shipping from the U.S. to Canada, Mexico, and Brazil. On May 2, the surcharge will begin to be applied to "Buy with Prime" in the U.S. and "multi-channel fulfillment" services in the U.S. and Canada.
Blue Owl Investors Seek to Pull $5.4 Billion From Two Private-Credit Funds
Investors in two of Blue Owl Capital's biggest private-credit funds asked to pull out some $5.4 billion in the first quarter, adding to the growing stream of capital leaving the once-hot corner of Wall Street.
The redemptions amounted to 22% of Blue Owl Capital's giant $36 billion private-credit fund and 41% of a separate technology-focused fund.
Such large redemptions are dangerous for investment firms like Blue Owl because they threaten the key driver of their share prices: the amount of money they manage and collect fees on. The firms built their funds to withstand prolonged bear markets, but outflows may continue for months or even years.
Expected Major Events for Friday
00:30/JPN: Mar Japan Services PMI
01:45/CHN: Mar China Services PMI
07:30/THA: Weekly International Reserves
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This article is a text version of a Wall Street Journal newsletter published earlier today.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 02, 2026 16:54 ET (20:54 GMT)
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