US markets end mostly in red on Friday

The US markets ended mostly in red on Friday amid persistent tensions around the Strait of Hormuz, with the vital shipping lane still largely closed despite a ceasefire deal between the U.S. and Iran. Traders remained cautious as a report released by the University of Michigan showed a significant deterioration in U.S. consumer sentiment in the month of April. The University of Michigan said its consumer sentiment index plummeted 11% to a historic low of 47.6 in early April 2026, far below both market expectations of 52 and last year’s level by 9%.  Some concern also came as the annual inflation rate in the US jumped to 3.3% in March 2026, marking the highest level since May 2024 and a sharp increase from 2.4% in both February and January. Traders also took a note of the Commerce Department released a report showed new orders for manufactured goods in the US were unchanged from the previous month at $619.6 billion in February of 2026, contrasting slightly with the market expectations of a 0.2% decline to mark the second consecutive stall.

Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 269.23 points or 0.56 percent to 47,916.57 and S&P 500 decreased 7.77 points or 0.11 percent to 6,816.89, while Nasdaq rose 80.47 points or 0.35 percent 22,902.89.