U.S. stocks posted modest gains for the week, extending a strong run amid AI optimism, corporate earnings resilience, and easing geopolitical tensions (particularly hopes for U.S.-Iran diplomacy).

S&P 500: Up ~0.9–1.4% for the week (closed near 7,580–7,593 on Friday). This marked its 8th consecutive weekly gain, the longest streak since late 2023. The index traded at or near record highs.

Nasdaq Composite: Up ~0.5% for the week, with intraday records in the mid-26,000s. Tech/AI names (especially semiconductors and related infrastructure) remained the primary drivers.

Broader participation improved (e.g., healthcare, some industrials), but mega-cap tech continued to dominate. The Dow Jones also rose solidly (~2.1% in one report), hitting records near 50,580.

Q1 2026 GDP (second estimate, released May 28): Revised down to +1.6% annualized (from +2.0%), below expectations. Weaker consumer spending was the main drag, partially offset by AI-related investment.

Inflation signals: Elevated (PCE and core measures remained sticky around 3.3–3.8%). The Fed is on hold (rates at 3.5–3.75%), with the focus shifting more toward inflation risks from energy and geopolitics than toward labor market softness.

Jobless claims ticked up slightly, but the labor market stayed relatively stable overall.

Oil (WTI/Brent): Volatile but declined 11% overall during the week as U.S.-Iran deal hopes eased supply disruption fears (e.g., Strait of Hormuz). WTI settled around $87–88 by late week (down from higher $90s+ earlier in the period). Brent near $91–92.

Gold: Held relatively firm as a safe-haven but saw swings; closed the week up 0.6% at $4,541/oz after rebounding from two-month lows mid-week.

Silver: More volatile, trading in the $74–77/oz range with a modest net gain. Closed the week down slightly at $75.25.

Bitcoin: Volatile, trading roughly $73,000–77,000. It ended the week down 2.5% in the mid-$73k range after fluctuating with risk sentiment and macro data.

Stellar (XMR) was a top performer in the past week, up over 80% after an announcement that the DTCC — Wall Street’s massive post-trade infrastructure giant that processes quadrillions in securities annually and custodies over $114 trillion in assets — will connect its tokenized securities platform to the Stellar blockchain.

AI-themed ETFs performed strongly, with gains of 5% to 8%, outperforming the broader market.

Our top AI-themed ETF was up 8.2% over the past week and 64% over the past month, driven by bullish supply-and-demand fundamentals.

Space ETFs saw strong gains early in the week, fueled by excitement around the upcoming SpaceX IPO (expected mid-June), inflows, and commercial space momentum.

But Space technology stocks tumbled on Friday after a rocket being tested by Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin exploded in a massive fireball on a launchpad at Florida's Cape Canaveral.

Potentially adding to the gloom was a Bloomberg report saying that SpaceX (SPCX) is targeting a $1.8T valuation, down from the $2T valuation reported in April. Poor Elon.

AST SpaceMobile (ASTS), which uses Blue Origin to launch communications satellites into space, declined 15% on Friday. Deutsche Bank downgrades AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) to Hold from Buy with a $106 price target following the New Glenn rocket explosion, saying ASTS will be unable to meet its launch target of ~45 satellites in orbit by the end of 2026 without Blue Origin.