Top Stories — Tuesday, April 14, 2026
What is trending in the USA today? Here is Breaking News:
- BlackRock raises view on U.S. stocks on belief that war is over, profits are up — CNBC
- Oracle pops 11%, leading bounce back rally in software stocks — CNBC
- Treasury yields edge lower as investors hope for U.S.-Iran deal — CNBC
BlackRock raises view on U.S. stocks on belief that war is over, profits are up
Source: CNBC • Published: 4/14/2026, 12:06:41 AM
Asset management giant BlackRock raised its outlook for U.S. stocks, reasoning that contained impacts from the Iran war and strong corporate earnings will create a favorable backdrop for domestic equities.
The firm, which manages $14 trillion for clients, said in its weekly market note that it raised the rating a notch to overweight from neutral.
Developments in the war had made BlackRock cautious on domestic stocks. But it said prospects for a lasting ceasefire now have strategists believing that the impacts won't be major.
"We saw two signposts that would lead us to re-up risk after reducing it a few weeks ago. First, tangible evidence of actions that would reopen flows through the Strait of Hormuz. And second, visibility on the lingering macro impact being contained," the firm said. "This comes as expectations for corporate earnings have climbed for both the U.S. and [emerging markets] for 2026 – even since the conflict began on Feb. 28."
Moreover, the BlackRock strategists said "the threshold for the U.S. and Iran to go back to war is high," further limiting potential damage.
At the same time, prospects for corporate profits appear bright.
With earnings season just getting underway, S&P 500 companies are expected to post a collective 12.6% profit increase in the first quarter, according to FactSet. If historical beat rates hold, that would rise to 19%, the forecasting firm said.
Moreover, technology profits are expected to grow 45% this year, yet the sector has seen only a marginal gain this year.
BlackRock said that has put the valuation of information technology against the other 10 S&P 500 sectors at its lowest since mid-2020.
"We re-up risk in the U.S. and EM due to strong corporate earnings expectations and limited accrued damage to global growth," the strategists said. "We focus on profit margins this Q1 U.S. earnings season and still favor thematic opportunities like defense."
The two regions are the only overweights BlackRock has in its equity portfolio.
Oracle pops 11%, leading bounce back rally in software stocks
Source: CNBC • Published: 4/13/2026, 11:58:36 PM
Oracle's stock surged 11% as software shares, beaten down by artificial intelligence disruption fears, clawed back some year-to-date losses.
Adobe jumped about 6%, while Salesforce rallied 5%. ServiceNow, HubSpot, and Workday rallied more than 7% each. Cybersecurity stocks also gained, with CrowdStrike, Tenable, and SentinelOne each adding more than 6%.
The rally came as investors saw hope in a future peace deal between Iran and the U.S.
Software stocks hit selloff mode this year on concerns that new AI tools from the likes of Anthropic and OpenAI will displace their longstanding business models. Fears of new cyber risks have also pressured cybersecurity companies.
The worry is that AI models will allow customers to build websites, software, and apps within minutes, and eat away at software's future growth and profit margins. Some of these models could also open up capabilities for hackers.
In recent months, tech executives have been quick to dismiss the concerns, calling them "overblown."
That's done little to quell the sell-off.
So far this year, HubSpot has shed nearly half its market value, while Atlassian has slumped more than 60%. Several companies, including Atlassian, have also cut employees to fuel AI projects.
Oracle has lost more than a fifth of its value and ServiceNow has plummeted more than 40%.
The selloff is also contributing to panic in the private credit market, where software is a major borrower. Investors worry the selloff could lift default risks across the sector.
Treasury yields edge lower as investors hope for U.S.-Iran deal
Source: CNBC • Published: 4/13/2026, 11:58:22 PM
Treasury yields edged lower on Monday as investors remained optimistic that a resolution for the conflict in the Middle East would be achieved, even after the breakdown of talks between Iran and the U.S.
The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note — the benchmark for government borrowing — was lower by more than 1 basis point at 4.301%.
The 2-year Treasury note yield, more sensitive to short-term Federal Reserve interest rate moves, fell 2 basis points to 3.781%. The longer-dated 30-year Treasury bond yield was down more than 1 basis point at 4.902%.
One basis point is equal to 0.01%, and yields and prices move in opposite directions.
Optimism that an agreement would ultimately be reached between the U.S. and Iran grew after President Donald Trump said on Monday that the U.S. has "been called by the other side" and that they want to "make a deal very badly." To be sure, Iran has not confirmed the call.
Investors also reacted to the surging price of crude oil — which will filter down to higher gasoline costs for drivers and diesel fuel for U.S. truckers — and the start of a U.S. blockade of Iranian ports after talks between Washington and Tehran over the weekend failed to produce an agreement to end the Middle East war.
The fixed income market continued to price in the implications of Friday's inflation report for March, which showed core prices rising less than feared, despite the takeoff in energy prices since the start of the Iran war.
On a headline basis, the most recent U.S. consumer price index reading came in at its highest level in two years, stoking concerns that the energy price shock will spread through the economy and lift costs for goods and services.
"Markets are trying very hard to look through this," Rob Haworth, senior investment strategy director at U.S. Bank Asset Management, said of the effect of energy prices on inflation. "The 10-year Treasury between 4% and 4.35% is probably okay. If we start spending a lot of time above 4.5%, that tells us there's a lot of inflation worry in the market."
The housing market showed signs of weakness Monday. Existing home sales in March were worse than expected, dropping to their lowest level since last June.
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