How major US stock indexes fared Wednesday 4/1/2026

Audio By Carbonatix

Stocks rushed higher worldwide, and oil prices eased as hopes built that the war with Iran could end soon. That’s even though some of the signals investors saw as hopeful on Wednesday are already under dispute.

The S&P 500 rose 0.7% and added to its leap from the day before, which was its best since last spring. That followed even bigger gains for markets across Europe and Asia, including an 8.4% surge in South Korea, which were catching up to Wall Street’s rally from Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5%, and the Nasdaq composite jumped 1.2%.

On Wednesday:

The S&P 500 rose 46.80 points, or 0.7%, to 6,575.32.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 224.23 points, or 0.5%, to 46,565.74.

The Nasdaq composite rose 250.32 points, or 1.2%, to 21,840.95.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 15.99 points, or 0.6% to 2,512.37.

For the week:

The S&P 500 is up 206.47 points, or 3.2%.

The Dow is up 1,399.10 points, or 3.1%.

The Nasdaq is up 892.59 points, or 4.3%.

The Russell 2000 is up 62.67 points, or 2.6%.

For the year:

The S&P 500 is down 270.18 points, or 3.9%.

The Dow is down 1,497.55 points, or 3.1%.

The Nasdaq is down 1,401.04 points, or 6%.

The Russell 2000 is up 30.46 points, or 1.2%.