Dow Jones - 40,113.50 (+0.05%)

Nasdaq - 17,382.94 (+1.26%)

S&P 500 - 5,525.21 (+0.74%)

• An appreciated relief rally. The markets roared back to life from Thursday to Friday with the S&P 500 rising for the fourth consecutive day. Despite a rough start on Monday, the NASDAQ surged 6.7% for the week while the S&P 500 finished up 4.6% and the Dow rose 2.5%.
• Bond prices jumped. Prices of U.S. government bonds climbed, sending yields lower, amid an easing of recent volatility across the fixed-income market. The yield of the 10-year U.S. Treasury note closed around 4.26% on Friday, down from a recent intraday high of 4.59% on April 11. The 30-year bond finished around 4.72%.
• Hope towards China. China is reportedly considering exemptions for some U.S. products from its 125% tariffs. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the Trump administration has an "opportunity for a big deal" on trade with China, a day after Mr. Trump signaled tariffs on China would come down "substantially." Capital Economics projects the U.S. will lower import taxes on Chinese goods to as low as 60%. 
• International markets were in the green.  Asia and Europe were mostly higher, appearing to benefit from the potential for de-escalation in U.S.-China trade tensions.
• The U.S. dollar advanced against major international currencies.
• A growth downgrade. The International Monetary Fund projects a 2.8% annual GDP growth rate in 2025 and 3.0% in 2026. Three months ago―prior to the recent escalation in tariffs―the fund had forecast 3.3% growth rates in both 2025 and 2026. 
• Oil traded lower. WTI oil traded lower on concerns with oversupply from OPEC+. Prices moved higher on Friday but still posted a weekly decline.
• Vital economic data rolled in about consumer anxiety. The final University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Survey for April was revised modestly higher to 52.2, above estimates to hold steady at the preliminary reading of 50.8, driven by improvement in consumers' assessment of current economic conditions.
• Tech stocks were the highlight. The NASDAQ’s weekly outperformance relative to other major U.S. indexes stemmed from strong quarterly results from major technology companies and the tech sector’s overall strength during the week. Tech stocks in the S&P 500 also surged nearly 8% on average for the week.
• Earnings are going strong. With 36% of the S&P 500 companies reporting quarterly results, performance has been solid. 74% have beaten analyst estimates, with an average upside surprise of 9.9%
• Alphabet, the parent company of Google, posted strong results. The company exceeded forecasts for both earnings and revenue. Google was among the first Big Tech companies to report its earnings since President Trump's "Liberation Day" tariff plan.
• Job data came in. Initial jobless claims for last week were 222,000. This was slightly above the prior reading of 216,000, but well below the 30-year median of roughly 324,000, signaling healthy labor-market conditions.
• More economic data. The Conference Board's Leading Economic Index (LEI), which is intended to provide an early indication of significant turning points in the business cycle and where the economy is heading in the near term, fell 0.7% in March to 100.5, below estimates for a 0.5% decline. March U.S. durable goods orders soared 9.2% month over month compared with consensus for 1.5%. However, with transportation excluded, growth was flat and lower than the 0.3% Briefing.com consensus
• Bitcoin continued to crush. The Bitcoin long-term holder cohort saw a $26 billion value increase as BTC price surged to $94,900. Trump's meme coin also surged over 30% as the president courts crypto backers.
• Gold took a pause from its run. Gold eclipsed the $3,400-per-ounce level for the first time but pulled back later in the week; on Friday afternoon, it was trading around $3,310―down fractionally for the week but up 24% year to date. 
• Fed cut optimism is low. Chances of a May Fed rate cut were 5% early today, according to the CME FedWatch Tool. June rate cut odds are 60%. 
• What to look forward to. More quarterly earnings reports are on deck for next week as well as a monthly jobs report, an initial estimate of first-quarter GDP growth, an inflation update, and other closely watched economic readings. The employment report will show how April’s jobs growth compared with March’s bigger-than-expected gain of 228,000 jobs.

• Intel (INTC)
• Tesla (TSLA)
• Alphabet (GOOGL)
• B2Gold (BTG)
• Ford Motor Company (F)

Biggest Gainers

• Sensient Technologies Corp. (SXT) – 13.54%
• Encompass Health Corp. (EHC) – 11.79%
• Charter Communications (CHTR) – 11.43%
• Liberty Broadband Corp. (LBRDK) – 11.47%
• Tesla (TSLA) – 9.80%

Biggest Losers

• Summit Therapeutics (SMMT) – 36.06%
• Saia Inc. (SAIA) – 30.66%
• Avantor Inc. (AVTR) – 16.58%
• Kinsale Capital Group (KNSL) – 16.33%
• AppFolio (APPF) – 18.17%

Weekly Notables

TikTok to Enter Japanese Commerce Industry

According to a report from the Nikkei newspaper, Chinese social media platform TikTok will enter the online shopping industry in Japan within the next few months. The company is preparing to recruit sellers soon for its e-commerce arm TikTok Shop in Japan, Nikkei said, citing a source involved in the operations. 

Procter & Gamble Cuts its Outlook Amid Tariff Worries

Procter & Gamble’s quarterly earnings topped estimates, but its revenue fell short of expectations. The company also cut its forecast for its full-year core earnings per share and revenue, President Donald Trump’s tariffs and consumer uncertainty. CEO Jon Moeller said the company will “likely” increase prices in the next fiscal year. “There will likely be pricing — tariffs are inherently inflationary — but we’re also looking at sourcing options,” P&G CEO Jon Moeller said Thursday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” 

Chipotle Sees a Slowdown in Consumer Spending

Mexican burrito chain Chipotle missed first-quarter revenue estimates and said same-store sales dropped for the first time since 2020. CEO Scott Boatwright said the burrito chain saw a “slowdown in consumer spending.” The company also lowered the top end of its same-store sales outlook for the year. CEO Scott Boatwright told analysts on the company’s conference call, "We could see this in our visitation study, where saving money because of concerns around the economy was the overwhelming reason consumers were reducing the frequency of restaurant visits."

The Week Ahead

• Potential market moving catalysts this week: No major reports on Monday. Tuesday 4/29: Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-City Composite Home Price NSA Index. Consumer Confidence Index, from the Conference Board. Wednesday 4/30: First-quarter GDP, advance estimate from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. ADP National Employment Report from ADP. Pending home sales from the National Association of Realtors. Thursday 5/1: Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing index. Construction spending from the U.S. Census Bureau. Weekly unemployment claims from the U.S. Department of Labor. Friday 5/2: Jobs and unemployment from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Factory orders from the U.S. Census Bureau.
• Earnings on deck this week: Monday (Apr. 28): Roper Technologies Inc. (ROP), Domino's Pizza Inc. (DPZ), Welltower Inc. (WELL), Waste Management Inc. (WM), Cadence Design Systems Inc. (CDNS), NXP Semiconductors NV (NXPI), Nucor Corp. (NUE). Tuesday (Apr. 29): Coca-Cola Co. (KO), AstraZeneca PLC (AZN), S&P Global Inc. (SPGI), Pfizer Inc. (PFE), Honeywell International Inc. (HON), Visa Inc. (V), Booking Holdings Inc. (BKNG), Starbucks (SBUX), Mondelez International Inc. (MDLZ), Novartis AG (NVS). Wednesday (Apr. 30): Caterpillar Inc. (CAT), Automatic Data Processing Inc. (ADP), Yum! Brands (YUM), Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), Meta Platforms (META), Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM), KLA Corp. (KLAC), Equinix Inc. (EQIX), Aflac Inc. (AFL). Thursday (May 1): Eli Lilly & Co. (LLY), MasterCard Inc. (MA), McDonald's Corp. (MCD), CVS Health Corp. (CVS), Apple Inc. (AAPL), Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN), Amgen Inc. (AMGN), Strategy Inc. (MSTR), Airbnb Inc. (ABNB). Friday (May 2): Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM), Chevron Corp. (CVX), The Cigna Group (CI), Cboe Global Markets (CBOE), Eaton Corporation PLC (ETN).