Nasdaq Composite Hits Record High as Intel Delivers Its Best Day in 26 Years

For years following, traders recall a specific type of Friday on Wall Street, where the tape moves so quickly that the CNBC chyrons are unable to keep up with the print. One of those dates was April 24, 2026. The Nasdaq Composite had risen 398 points at the closing bell, closing at 24,836.60, and trading desk sentiment had changed from cautious to almost disbelieving. The same desks had been preparing for a heated war and an oil shock a week prior.

The majority of the work was done by Intel, which is an understatement. The stock closed up around 23.6%, its biggest single-day increase since the dot-com era, after the chipmaker posted earnings of 29 cents per share against an estimate of two pence. You could see traders stopping mid-sentence to double-check the quote as you passed a Bloomberg terminal that afternoon, half-expecting a data error. No one was present. At least for a session, Lip-Bu Tan’s sluggish, unattractive comeback tale had finally generated enough figures to silence the doubters.

After weeks of growth, the semiconductor rally has begun to feel more like a dictatorship than a fad. For the first time since the gauge’s inception, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index has now increased for eighteen straight sessions. On the day, AMD increased by around 12%. Unbelievably, Nvidia’s market capitalization has risen past $5 trillion—a figure that still appears to be a typo every time you enter it. Qualcomm, KLA, Synopsys, and Taiwan Semi all moved in unison, much like stocks do when purchases become nearly automated.

A more brittle story lies beneath the chip story. The market decided to interpret reports that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi was traveling to Islamabad with a small group as a thaw. The fact that Brent crude has somewhat decreased but is still over 44% above pre-war levels serves as a reminder that the Strait of Hormuz hasn’t truly been settled and has just been laid aside for the weekend. Strangely, the Dow fell 179 points that same day, which is the kind of split tape that makes you question how long-lasting any of this is.

Powell came next. On Friday, the Department of Justice quietly withdrew its criminal investigation into the Fed Chair, a topic that would have dominated any typical news cycle but was instead obscured by Intel. Investors appear to think that monetary policy uncertainty has decreased once Powell’s overhang was gone and Kevin Warsh’s confirmation path became more apparent. That might be wishful thinking. Next week is the Fed’s meeting.

The consumer mood data that came in on the same day is what makes this rally unusual, and it’s worth watching with some suspicion. The final reading for April from the University of Michigan was 49.8, the lowest number in that series’ history. less than in 2008. less than the pandemic. In other words, when equity indices record all-time highs, households feel worse than they did when Lehman imploded. It’s difficult to ignore the disparity.

There is a propensity to refer to this as a bubble when observing it from the outside, but there is also a temptation to refer to it as vindication. It’s most likely neither, or an awkward combination of the two. The Nasdaq’s 13-day winning run earlier this month was its longest since 1992, but this number has been used so frequently this week that it is beginning to lose significance. If Intel’s advice turns out to be accurate, oil prices stay low, and the negotiations in Pakistan result in something more than a picture, the streak may continue. All of that is not assured. For now, it is the number displayed on the screen.