Oil Pulls Back as Tech Earnings Lift Nasdaq Before Jobs Data

Oil gave back part of its geopolitical spike Friday, but U.S. fuel inventories tightened enough to keep gasoline risk on the screen for households. Tech earnings did the opposite work for stocks, with Apple and Microsoft posting double-digit revenue growth while the Nasdaq finished higher.

This is a weekend market brief. U.S. cash markets were closed Saturday, so equity, futures, commodities, yield and global index marks below are the last available prints from the Saturday evening data pull. Crypto traded through the weekend.

Yesterday's Close

The S&P 500 closed at 7,230.12, up 0.29%. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.89% to 25,114.44, while the Dow fell 0.31% to 49,499.27. The Russell 2000 added 0.46% to 2,812.82.

Sector proxies showed the split. Technology led with XLK up 1.49%, consumer discretionary added 0.24%, and communication services gained 0.18%. Energy fell 1.34%, industrials lost 0.93%, utilities dropped 0.64%, and health care slipped 0.57%.

The megacap tape explains much of the index math. Apple rose 3.24% after the company said fiscal second-quarter revenue reached $111.2 billion, up 17% from a year earlier, and diluted earnings per share rose 22% to $2.01.

"The Company posted quarterly revenue of $111.2 billion, up 17 percent year over year. Diluted earnings per share was $2.01, up 22 percent year over year." - Apple, fiscal 2026 second-quarter earnings release

Microsoft gained 1.63% after the company said fiscal third-quarter revenue rose 18% to $82.9 billion and diluted earnings per share increased 23% to $4.27 on a GAAP basis. Tesla rose 2.41% and Amazon added 1.21%, while Nvidia slipped 0.56%.

"Revenue was $82.9 billion and increased 18%." - Microsoft, fiscal 2026 third-quarter earnings release

Overnight

Asia finished mixed in the last available closes. The Nikkei 225 rose 0.38% to 59,513.12 and the Shanghai Composite gained 0.11% to 4,112.16. Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 1.28% to 25,776.53, and South Korea's KOSPI lost 1.38% to 6,598.87.

Europe was firmer at the center and softer at the edge. Germany's DAX rose 1.41% to 24,292.38 and France's CAC 40 gained 0.53% to 8,114.84. The Stoxx 600 was nearly flat at 611.55, up 0.04%, while the FTSE 100 fell 0.14% to 10,363.90.

Currency action was concentrated in the yen pair. The dollar index rose 0.13% to 98.21, EUR/USD traded at 1.1723, up 0.33%, and USD/JPY fell 1.97% to 157.033. Without a fresh Bank of Japan or Ministry of Finance release in this brief, the yen move should be treated as price action, not a policy signal.

Pre-Market US

The last available U.S. futures marks leaned in the same direction as Friday's cash close. S&P 500 futures were at 7,258.00, up 0.20%. Nasdaq 100 futures were at 27,835.75, up 0.87%. Dow futures were at 49,646, down 0.38%.

Because the data pull landed Saturday evening, those futures are not live Monday premarket prices. The useful read is narrow: the last available futures screen matched a tech-led equity tape, not a broad risk rally.

By the Numbers

Bitcoin traded at $78,545, up 0.47% over 24 hours in the CoinGecko top-five pull. Ethereum traded at $2,311.68, up 0.80%.

WTI crude fell 2.98% to $101.94. Brent crude dropped 5.12% to $108.17. Gold rose 0.33% to $4,629.90, silver jumped 3.29% to $75.95, copper edged up 0.10% to $5.932, and natural gas rose 0.47% to $2.78.

The 10-year Treasury yield was 4.378%, down 0.12 basis point. The VIX rose 0.59% to 16.99. Those two marks point to a rate backdrop that barely moved even as oil sold off and tech carried the Nasdaq.

Today's Calendar

The Bureau of Labor Statistics calendar shows no major national release scheduled for Monday, May 4. Tuesday brings the March Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Thursday's calendar has preliminary first-quarter Productivity and Costs at 8:30 a.m. ET. Friday brings the April Employment Situation at 8:30 a.m. ET. The following week turns to inflation, with April CPI and Real Earnings scheduled for Tuesday, May 12 at 8:30 a.m. ET and April PPI scheduled for Wednesday, May 13 at 8:30 a.m. ET.

The Federal Reserve's April 28 to 29 meeting is now behind the market. The next scheduled FOMC meeting is June 16 to 17, according to the Fed's calendar.

Why It Moved

The first move was crude retracement, not an oversupply signal. EIA data for the week ended April 24 showed commercial crude inventories fell by 6.233 million barrels to 459.495 million. Total motor gasoline stocks fell by 6.075 million barrels to 222.299 million.

That combination matters for consumers. WTI and Brent gave back part of the prior geopolitical premium, but the U.S. gasoline buffer tightened by 2.7% in one week. If crude stabilizes above $100 while gasoline stocks keep falling, refiners and distributors have less cushion before pump prices move.

The second move was earnings support in technology. Apple and Microsoft gave investors concrete revenue and earnings growth to price against the rate backdrop. That helped explain why the Nasdaq beat the Dow even as energy and industrials weakened.

The third move was the Fed's signal. The Federal Reserve held the target range for the federal funds rate at 3.50% to 3.75% on April 29 and said inflation remains elevated, partly because of higher global energy prices.

"Inflation is elevated, in part reflecting the recent increase in global energy prices." - Federal Reserve FOMC statement dated April 29, 2026

The same statement said Middle East developments are adding uncertainty to the outlook. That keeps the next jobs, productivity and inflation releases in the foreground. For equities, the question is whether earnings growth can keep offsetting a Fed that is still focused on inflation. For households, the cleaner number to watch is gasoline inventory, because that is where the oil story reaches the pump.