The US markets ended mostly in red on Friday amid persistent tensions around the Strait of Hormuz, with the vital shipping lane still largely closed despite a ceasefire deal between the U.S. and Iran. Traders remained cautious as a report released by the University of Michigan showed a significant deterioration in U.S. consumer sentiment in the month of April. The University of Michigan said its consumer sentiment index plummeted 11% to a historic low of 47.6 in early April 2026, far below both market expectations of 52 and last year’s level by 9%.  Some concern also came as the annual inflation rate in the US jumped to 3.3% in March 2026, marking the highest level since May 2024 and a sharp increase from 2.4% in both February and January. Traders also took a note of the Commerce Department released a report showed new orders for manufactured goods in the US were unchanged from the previous month at $619.6 billion in February of 2026, contrasting slightly with the market expectations of a 0.2% decline to mark the second consecutive stall.

Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 269.23 points or 0.56 percent to 47,916.57 and S&P 500 decreased 7.77 points or 0.11 percent to 6,816.89, while Nasdaq rose 80.47 points or 0.35 percent 22,902.89.