Key Points
The Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq-100 all rose through midday Wednesday, but trading volume ran well below half of recent daily averages.
Iranian forces seized two cargo ships in the Strait of Hormuz despite an indefinite ceasefire extension, keeping oil and gold prices elevated.
Tesla and IBM report earnings after the close, which may give markets a clearer direction on Thursday.
Here's a fun riddle for Wall Street's Wednesday: What do you call a market where stocks go up, gold goes up, oil goes up, and Bitcoin(CRYPTO: BTC) jumps more than 5%, but almost nobody is actually trading? Apparently, you call it April 22, 2026.
The major indexes are all in the green shortly after noon, ET. The Dow Jones Industrial Average(DJINDICES: ^DJI) has added about 0.7%, the S&P 500(SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) rose by roughly 0.9%, and the Nasdaq-100 is leading the pack with a 1.3% gain.
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These are perfectly respectable numbers. The catch? Trading volume of the most popular exchange-traded funds (ETFs) is running well below half of normal levels. That's true for funds tracking the three stock indexes above, but also for Bitcoin ETFs such as iShares Bitcoin Trust(NASDAQ: IBIT), the oil-price mirror known as United States Oil Fund(NYSEMKT: USO), and the SPDR Gold Shares(NYSEMKT: GLD) precious-metal index.
It's rare to see safe-haven bets like gold match the pace of broad indexes and jumpy assets like Bitcoin and oil. Investors seem to be saying, "Sure, we'll take the gains," while keeping one hand firmly on the exit door.
Mixed signals from the Iran conflict
Several factors are contributing to the market's cautious advance, starting with a handful of early reports in the second earnings season of 2026.
UnitedHealth Group(NYSE: UNH) continues to benefit from its strong first-quarter earnings report earlier this week. Boeing(NYSE: BA) gave the Dow a small push with its earnings-based 5% gain, but the industrial giant accounts for less than 3% of the Dow's total weighting due to a modest price per share.
In the technology sector, Broadcom(NASDAQ: AVGO) emerged as the session's standout performer, rising approximately 4%. That's enough to make a mark on the S&P 500 or Nasdaq-100, thanks to Broadcom's hefty $1.9 trillion market cap. The company recently locked in an AI-computing chip partnership with Alphabet(NASDAQ: GOOG)(NASDAQ: GOOGL) through 2031 and signed a deal to supply computing capacity to Claude maker Anthropic.
Image source: Getty Images.
Meanwhile, the two-week ceasefire between Iran and the U.S.-Israel alliance was set to expire today. The pause was officially extended "indefinitely," but Iranian forces still seized two cargo ships and the American navy continues to block Iran's commercial vessels. Permanent peace talks have stalled. That unclear situation explains why oil prices remain elevated, and why ultra-safe gold bets are up.
It's harder to explain the gains in more volatile asset types such as tech stocks and cryptocurrencies. Investors may be looking forward to an incoming wave of tech-sector earnings reports, starting with Tesla(NASDAQ: TSLA) and IBM(NYSE: IBM) after the closing bell tonight. Crypto traders have been in a bullish mood for nearly three weeks now, with no obvious reason to reverse course today. Sometimes, that's enough to lift an entire class of fairly speculative assets.
What the mixed messages mean for long-term investors
Today's session shows a market caught between competing narratives. Equities, safe havens, and speculative assets are all rising together on thin trading volume -- a pattern that signals more uncertainty than conviction.
For long-term investors, that's fine. The companies driving today's gains are doing so on real business developments, not geopolitical speculation. Keep watching, stay patient, and don't assume that a quiet day of green charts is an all-clear signal.
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Anders Bylund has positions in Alphabet, Bitcoin, International Business Machines, UnitedHealth Group, and iShares Bitcoin Trust. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Bitcoin, Boeing, Broadcom, International Business Machines, Tesla, and iShares Bitcoin Trust. The Motley Fool recommends UnitedHealth Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
