What’s News in Markets: The War Trade, Megadeals and a Sneaker Slowdown

0:01Some of the best lessons don't come from a classroom. They come from experience. On The Power of Advice, a new podcast series from Capital Group, you'll hear from CEOs, investors, and founders about how they built careers, took risks, and reinvented themselves. If you're starting your own journey, this is the kind of advice you won't want to miss. Available wherever you get your podcasts. Published by Capital Client Group, Inc.

0:31Hey, listeners. It's Saturday, April 4th. I'm Imani Moiz 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 dive in. It was a short week for markets. Major stock exchanges were closed for Good Friday. Stocks seesawed throughout the week as they digested mixed signals about the conflict in Iran. In the end, all three major stock indexes finished the week higher. The Nasdaq led the way, closing up 4.4 percent on Thursday. Both the S &P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average were also up about 3 percent for the week.

1:06Brent crude, the international oil benchmark, surged nearly 8 percent this week to finish at$109 a barrel, as hopes for a quick end to the Iran conflict fated. But higher commodity prices didn't translate to gains for oil stocks. Energy was the only sector in the S &P 500 to finish the week lower, falling more than 5 % as investors worried about long-term supply. Bond markets also closed early this week, but not before the latest jobs report gave bond yields a small boost. The 10-year Treasury recently traded at 4.35%, up from 4.32 % before the Friday report. Stock futures moved slightly lower after the report.

1:51Turbulent markets are usually a deterrent for mergers and acquisitions, but 2026 is off to a historic start for dealmaking. Corporations announced 22 M &A transactions worth$10 billion or more in the quarter that wrapped up this week. That marks the strongest start to the year for mega deals on record. While that's good news for bankers, shareholders appear to have buyer's remorse. Some of the companies announcing these massive acquisitions were among the week's biggest losers. McCormick shares tumbled 8 % this week after announcing it was taking on debt as part of a$65 billion deal to combine its food business with Unilever.

2:26Similarly, Cisco shares were down 13 % on the week as investors weighed the mountain of new debt tied to its$29 billion acquisition of Jetro Restaurant Depot. But investors rewarded at least one company for writing a multi-billion dollar check. Intel shares jumped nearly 17 % this week after announcing it would spend$14.2 billion to buy out Apollo Global Management's 49 % stake in their Irish chip plant. Executives positioned the move as proof of the company's stronger balance sheet and more focused corporate strategy.

3:04Market momentum was good to tech stocks this week. Facebook parent Meta and Google parent Alphabet both rebounded to finish near the top of the leaderboard, gaining roughly 8 % to 9 % each. Their rally is somewhat of a return to normal. Both companies led losses last week after courts found their social media platforms liable for failing to protect young people from online danger. Nike was the biggest loser in the S &P 500 for the week. Shares plunged nearly 14 % after the sportswear brand warned investors that sales in China, its second-largest market after the U.S., could fall by as much as 20 % this quarter.

3:38The company has now experienced sales declines in China for seven straight quarters, and the current one, ending on May 31st, could be even worse.

3:53Looking ahead, investors are getting their bids ready for what could be the biggest IPO of all time. Elon Musk's SpaceX filed confidential paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday, setting the stage for an initial public offering that could raise as much as$80 billion. SpaceX, which merged with XAI in February, is the first of three mega IPOs anticipated in 2026. Investors are also eager to claim stakes in AI rivals OpenAI and Anthropic. And now you know what's news in markets this week. You can read more about the stocks that moved on the week's news in our live markets coverage on WSJ.com.

4:33Today's show was produced by Alexis Moore and Julie Chang with supervising producer Melanie Roy. I'm Imani Moise. Have a great weekend and catch you next Saturday.

4:46Still running global payroll like a relay race? Deal replaces fragmented payroll vendors with one global system. No third parties. Hire and pay teams in 130-plus countries with in-house local experts and white-glove delivery. And Deal plugs into what you already use. Workday, SAP, NetSuite. Operate like a local everywhere. Visit deel.com slash wsj. That's deel.com slash wsj.