Weekly Market Recap
Week ended April 3
Market-moving news
Relief rally
The major U.S. indexes finished the week 3% to 4% higher as stocks regained traction following five consecutive weekly declines. Conflict in the Middle East continued to drive the market, resulting in a rally on Tuesday and sizable intraday swings in a holiday-shortened trading week.
Resurgent oil
After two weeks of relative calm in global oil markets, geopolitical tensions escalated again, raising fresh concerns about prolonged disruptions to oil shipments in the Persian Gulf’s Strait of Hormuz. U.S. crude was trading around $112 per barrel on Friday—the highest since mid-2022, and well above the $90 to $100 level that oil had traded in through most of March.
Jobs comeback
The U.S. economy generated 178,000 jobs in March, well above economists’ consensus expectations and rebounding from the previous month’s revised net loss of 133,000 jobs. The report—issued on Friday as the stock market closed for a holiday observance—also showed that the unemployment rate slipped to 4.3% from 4.4% the previous month
March decline
The S&P 500 and the NASDAQ in March fell for the second month in a row, with both dropping around 5%. The Dow fell more than 5%, snapping a 10-month positive streak for that index. Over the first three months of 2026, all three indexes sustained their biggest quarterly declines in nearly four years.
Tuesday surge
A rally on Tuesday accounted for most of the U.S. stock market’s overall weekly rise, with the three major indexes recording their biggest daily percentage gains since last May. The NASDAQ climbed 3.8%, the S&P 500 rose 2.9%, and the Dow added 2.5%.
Yields reverse course
Yields of U.S. government bonds slipped, snapping a four-week string of increases that had lifted the yield of the 10-year U.S. Treasury to its highest level in more than eight months. The 10-year yield finished the week around 4.30%, down from 4.43% at the end of the previous week. Nevertheless, the yield remained well above a recent low of 3.96% on February 27.
Golden rebound
Gold prices recovered some of the ground they had lost in March, though they remained well below the precious metal’s record high of around $5,500 per ounce set in late January. On Friday, gold was trading around $4,700, up nearly 4% for the week.
Q1 earnings preview
With initial first-quarter earnings reports scheduled to begin coming out in mid-April, analysts are expecting that companies in the S&P 500 will report double-digit earnings growth for the sixth consecutive quarter. As of Thursday, analysts surveyed by FactSet were forecasting an average earnings growth rate of around 13.2%. Just a couple of weeks earlier, earnings were expected to rise just 12.5%.
The week ahead: April 6-10
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Investment returns
Equities
U.S. equity size and style total returns as of 4/3/26 (%)
1 week
| 2.6 | 3.4 | 4.2 | Large | |
| 2.9 | 3.0 | 3.4 | Medium | |
| 3.1 | 3.3 | 3.6 | Small | |
| Value | Core | Growth | ||
YTD
| 2.9 | -3.4 | -9.0 | Large | |
| 4.9 | 2.4 | -5.5 | Medium | |
| 6.4 | 2.3 | -1.5 | Small | |
| Value | Core | Growth | ||
Index/market total returns as of 4/3/26 (%)
| Close | 1 week | YTD | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dow Jones Industrial Average | 46,504.7 | 3.0 | -2.8 |
| NASDAQ Composite Index | 21,879.2 | 4.4 | -5.7 |
| S&P 500 Index | 6,582.7 | 3.4 | -3.5 |
| MSCI EAFE Index | 2,919.4 | 3.1 | 1.7 |
| Cboe Volatility Index | 23.9 | -23.2 | 59.3 |
International/developed (%)
| 1 week | YTD | |
|---|---|---|
| EAFE | 3.1 | 1.7 |
| Europe | 4.0 | -0.2 |
| France | 3.8 | -3.3 |
| Germany | 4.2 | -6.2 |
| Italy | 5.6 | -0.1 |
| Japan | 1.2 | 5.6 |
| Spain | 4.9 | -0.2 |
| Switzerland | 3.1 | -1.7 |
| U.K. | 4.4 | 5.0 |
Emerging markets (%)
| 1 week | YTD | |
|---|---|---|
| EM | 0.3 | 3.1 |
| Brazil | 4.7 | 20.5 |
| China | 0.0 | -7.8 |
| India | 1.3 | -15.1 |
| Indonesia | -0.8 | -20.7 |
| Korea | -1.4 | 26.6 |
| Mexico | 5.9 | 10.7 |
| Russia | #N/A | #N/A |
| Taiwan | -1.7 | 12.3 |
S&P 500 sectors (%)
| 1 week | YTD | |
|---|---|---|
| S&P 500 Index | 3.4 | -3.5 |
| Communication services | 6.4 | -5.5 |
| Consumer discretionary | 2.7 | -9.7 |
| Consumer staples | 0.7 | 7.8 |
| Energy | -5.3 | 33.5 |
| Financials | 3.6 | -9.1 |
| Healthcare | 2.5 | -4.7 |
| Industrials | 2.9 | 5.9 |
| Information tech | 4.6 | -7.4 |
| Materials | 3.4 | 11.0 |
| Real estate | 4.0 | 6.9 |
| Utilities | 1.6 | 9.4 |
Fixed income, currencies, and commodities
U.S. fixed-income style total returns as of 4/3/26 (%)
1 week
| 0.1 | 0.3 | 1.2 | High | Credit quality |
| 0.2 | 0.6 | 2.0 | Medium | |
| 0.6 | 1.2 | 2.9 | Low | |
| Limited | Moderate | Extensive | ||
| Interest-rate sensitivity | ||||
YTD
| 0.5 | -0.1 | -0.5 | High | Credit quality |
| 0.3 | 0.1 | -0.7 | Medium | |
| 0.3 | -0.1 | -0.6 | Low | |
| Limited | Moderate | Extensive | ||
| Interest-rate sensitivity | ||||
U.S. Treasury bond yields as of 4/3/26 (%)
| END OF WEEK | PRIOR YEAR END | YTD CHANGE (BPS) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 Yr | 3.80 | 3.48 | 32 |
| 10 Yr | 4.30 | 4.16 | 14 |
| 30 Yr | 4.88 | 4.84 | 4 |
| 2-10 spread | 51 | 68 | -17 |
| 10-30 spread | 58 | 68 | -10 |
U.S. bond sector total returns (%)
| 1 week | YTD | |
|---|---|---|
| Aggregate | 0.8 | 0.0 |
| Bank loans | 0.1 | -0.8 |
| Convertible | 2.9 | 5.2 |
| Corporate | 1.2 | -0.6 |
| High yield | 1.2 | -0.1 |
| MBS | 0.9 | 0.4 |
| Municipal | 0.7 | 0.1 |
| Preferreds | 0.2 | -1.5 |
| TIPS | 0.9 | 0.5 |
| Treasury | 0.5 | -0.1 |
Global bond total returns (%)
| 1 week | YTD | |
|---|---|---|
| EM Local | 1.3 | -0.5 |
| EMD USD | 0.8 | -0.8 |
| Global Agg | 0.8 | -0.8 |
| Global Agg Ex-U.S. | 0.8 | -1.3 |
| Multiverse | 0.8 | -0.8 |
Commodities (%)
| 1 week | YTD | |
|---|---|---|
| BBG Com Ind | 2.3 | 26.3 |
| Oil (WTI) | 12.0 | 97.9 |
| Gold | 3.5 | 7.2 |
Currencies (USD) (%)
| 1 week | YTD | |
|---|---|---|
| EM FX | #N/A | #N/A |
| AUD | 0.3 | 3.7 |
| CAD | -0.3 | -1.6 |
| CHF | -0.2 | -0.8 |
| EUR | 0.3 | -1.6 |
| GBP | -0.3 | -1.5 |
| JPY | 0.5 | -1.6 |
GDP
Jobs
Inflation
Ex-U.S.
Regions/countries
| GDP Growth (%) annualized | Inflation Rate (%) CPI | Unemployment Rate (%) | 10-Year Government Bond (%) | Sovereign Credit Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eurozone | 1.2 | 2.5 | 6.2 | _ | _ |
| China | 4.5 | 1.3 | 5.3 | 1.82 | A+ |
| Germany | 0.4 | 2.7 | 6.3 | 3.00 | AAA |
| Japan | 0.1 | 1.3 | 2.6 | 2.38 | A+ |
| U.K. | 1.0 | 3.0 | 5.2 | 4.78 | AA |
Fund industry overview
Total net flows: open-end funds and ETFs as of 2/28/26 ($B)
| MONTH | 12 Month | ASSETS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. Equity | 5.4 | -91.0 | 18,238.2 |
| Sector Equity | 8.9 | 48.7 | 1,826.3 |
| Allocation | -3.8 | -58.6 | 1,608.2 |
| International Equity | 28.2 | 118.0 | 5,856.7 |
| Alternative | 3.2 | 18.0 | 138.1 |
| Commodities | 4.3 | 61.1 | 446.0 |
| Taxable Bond | 85.8 | 617.4 | 6,796.7 |
| Municipal Bond | 11.0 | 75.6 | 1,046.0 |
| Total all long-term funds | 146.8 | 825.9 | 3,606.4 |
Leading Morningstar fund categories by monthly net flows as of 2/28/26 ($B)
| MONTH | 12 Month | ASSETS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Large Blend | 19.1 | 164.9 | 9,589.1 |
| Intermediate Core Bond | 17.0 | 137.4 | 1,679.4 |
| Global Bond-USD Hedged | 10.7 | 53.5 | 383.2 |
| Multisector Bond | 9.8 | 86.3 | 464.4 |
| Intermediate Core-Plus Bond | 9.4 | 54.8 | 945.0 |
Lagging Morningstar fund categories by monthly net flows as of 2/28/26 ($B)
| MONTH | 12 Month | ASSETS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Large Growth | -18.7 | -86.9 | 3,459.1 |
| Financial | -4.9 | -8.5 | 101.9 |
| Mid-Cap Growth | -4.8 | -40.6 | 363.6 |
| Bank Loan | -4.0 | -24.2 | 86.0 |
| Foreign Large Growth | -3.3 | -46.0 | 532.7 |
Important disclosures
Important disclosures
Unless otherwise noted, all data is from FactSet.
The data provided is for informational purposes only and is not an endorsement of any security, mutual fund, sector, or index. This does not illustrate the performance of any John Hancock fund. The information contained here is not guaranteed as to accuracy or completeness. All economic and performance information is historical and does not guarantee future results.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average is a price-weighted index comprising 30 widely traded blue chip U.S. common stocks. The NASDAQ Composite Index is a market-value-weighted index of all common stocks listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange. The S&P 500 Index tracks the performance of 500 of the largest publicly traded companies in the United States. The MSCI Europe, Australasia, and Far East (EAFE) Index tracks the performance of publicly traded large- and mid-cap stocks of companies in those regions. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index tracks the performance of large- and mid-cap stocks in emerging markets. The Cboe Volatility Index (VIX) shows the market’s expectation of 30-day volatility and is constructed using the implied volatilities of a wide range of S&P 500 Index options. Weekly and year-to-date figures for the VIX show percentage changes, not investment returns. The Russell 1000 Growth Index tracks the performance of large-cap companies in the United States with higher price-to-book ratios and higher forecasted growth values. The Russell 1000 Value Index tracks the performance of large-cap companies in the United States with lower price-to-book ratios and lower forecasted growth values. It is not possible to invest directly in an index. Total returns are calculated gross of foreign withholding tax on dividends.
The Treasury yield curve is derived from available U.S. Treasury securities trading in the market and is provided directly by the U.S. Federal Reserve. The spread measures the difference in yield between two government securities. A normal (positive) yield curve occurs when longer-term rates are higher than shorter-term rates. The opposite holds true for an inverted yield curve. Year-to-date changes in U.S. Treasury bond yields are shown in basis points (BPS). One hundred basis points equals one percent.
Oil prices are represented by West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil.
The G20 countries comprise a mix of the world’s largest advanced and emerging economies, representing about two-thirds of the world’s population, 85% of global gross domestic product, and over 75% of global trade.
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