This Week's Market Wrap: Energy, Defense Stocks Take The Lead As Oil Prices Spike Higher

Financial Sense4.41K FollowersFollow5ShareSavePlay(14min)CommentsSummaryEscalating conflict between the U.S., Israel, and Iran pushed crude oil above $90 per barrel and created significant cross-asset volatility, with energy and defense stocks benefiting while travel and transport names came under pressure.Despite macro turbulence, strong demand signals across AI hardware and software - from companies like NVIDIA, Broadcom, and Marvell - helped stabilize technology leadership and drove rebounds in semiconductors and enterprise software.A surprise drop in February payrolls, combined with rising wage pressures and persistent inflation, signals reinforced uncertainty around the Federal Reserve’s rate path. Douglas Rissing/iStock via Getty Images By Ryan J. Puplava, CMT, CTS, CES Oil Shock and Geopolitical Risk Dominate Market Sentiment The dominant narrative in financial markets this week was a sudden escalation of geopolitical tensions in the Middle EastThis article was written byFinancial Sense4.41K FollowersFollowCited by Barron's as one of the top financial websites to visit on the weekend, Financial Sense (www.financialsense.com) provides educational resources to the broad public audience through a daily podcast, editorials, current news and resource links on salient financial market issues. Begun in 1985 as a local talk radio program, Financial Sense Newshour (www.financialsense.com/financial-sense-newshour) is a weekly webcast with host Jim Puplava and top financial thinkers. Writing staff of Financial Sense includes: Jim Puplava, Chris Puplava, Ryan Puplava, and Cris Sheridan.