Stocks were bouncing between gains and losses Friday morning after a steep post-rally downturn yesterday, as investors reacted to the latest developments in a trade war with China and earnings reports from major U.S. banks.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 were each down 0.1% in recent trading, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Complsite added 0.2%. Stocks plunged yesterday after posting one of their best days ever on Wednesday, as headlines on tariffs drive investor sentiment amid fears that the trade measures could cause economic growth to stall and inflation to rise.
China on Friday announced that it had raised its levy on imports from the U.S. to 125%. The move by Beijing comes two days after President Trump announced that China would be excluded from a 90-day pause on so-called “reciprocal” tariffs. Under that pause, all other countries are subject to a 10% base rate, while China faces an overall 145% tariff.
Trading has been extraordinarily volatile in recent days amid the back-and-forth on tariffs, with the Dow swinging more than 2,000 points between its high and low of the session every day so far this week. Nonetheless, the major indexes enter Friday’s session on track to post weekly gains for the first time in three weeks.
Producer price data released this morning showed that wholesale inflation fell in March, adding to optimism that price pressures are under control ahead of the impact of tariffs being felt. Consumer price data on Thursday also painted a positive picture, though consumer sentiment data released this morning came in much weaker than anticipated and showed that Americans expect prices to rise substantially.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which affects borrowing costs on all sorts of loans, notably mortgages, was at 4.56% recently, up from 4.39% at yesterday’s close and trading at its highest level in two months. The yield had been as low as 3.86% last Friday, its lowest level since October. Volatile trading in the government bond market has spurred concerns that some countries may be dumping their U.S. bond holdings or that hedge funds have had to unwind trades amid the market turmoil.
Financial stocks, which have been hit hard amid concerns about an economic slowdown, were in focus this morning as the earnings reporting season kicked into gear. Among those reporting first-quarter results, Wells Fargo (WFC) fell more than 3%, while Morgan Stanley (MS) dropped 1%. JPMorgan Chase (JPM) was up 2.5% to lead Dow advancers, while BlackRock (BLK) added 1.5%.
Mega-cap technology stocks, which led the broad sell-off yesterday, were mixed. EV maker Tesla (TSLA) was down more than 1%, as was Meta Platforms (META), while Amazon (AMZN) slipped about 0.5%. Chipmakers Nvidia (NVDA) and Broadcom (AVGO) were up 1.5% and 2.5%, respectively, while Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT) and Alphabet (GOOG) also gained ground.
Among other noteworthy tech stocks, Texas Instruments (TXN) slid 8% to lead S&P 500 decliners, while On Semiconductor (ON) declined 7%, and Intel (INTC) and Microchip Technology (MCHP) each fell about 6%.
Shares of mining companies also rose as gold futures were up 2% at $3,240 per ounce, trading at record high levels. Barrick Gold (GOLD) and Newmont Mining (NEM) each gained more than 6%.
West Texas Intermediate futures, the U.S. crude oil benchmark, were holding steady at $60.10 per barrel. Oil futures had slipped to nearly $55 on Wednesday, a four-year low, amid concerns about slowing global demand.
Bitcoin was at $82,200 recently, up from an overnight low of $78,900. The digital currency has bounced around this week, tracking moves on the equities market.
11 minutes ago
BlackRock (BLK) reported better-than-expected first-quarter adjusted profit as the investment giant reported another assets under management (AUM) record.
The company reported adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $11.30, well above the $10.13 analysts had expected, while revenue fell just short of Visible Alpha estimates at $5.28 billion.
At the end of the first quarter, BlackRock had a record $11.58 trillion in AUM, up 11% year-over-year.
“Uncertainty and anxiety about the future of markets and the economy are dominating client conversations,” BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said. “We’ve seen periods like this before when there were large, structural shifts in policy and markets—like the financial crisis, COVID, and surging inflation in 2022. We always stayed connected with clients, and some of BlackRock’s biggest leaps in growth followed.”
Fink said Monday that the Trump administration’s tariffs could stoke inflation, adding that most CEOs he has spoken with believe the U.S. is “probably in a recession right now.”
BlackRock shares were up about 1% in recent trading. They entered the day down 16% since the start of the year.
1 hr 12 min ago
JPMorgan Chase (JPM) on Friday reported better-than-expected fiscal first-quarter results as big banks kicked off the new earnings season.
The banking giant reported earnings per share (EPS) of $5.07 on revenue of $45.31 billion, each up from $4.44 and $41.93 billion, respectively, a year ago. Analysts had expected $4.64 and $43.55 billion, according to estimates compiled by Visible Alpha.
Shares of JPMorgan were up more than 3% in recent trading. They entered the day down roughly 5% year-to-date but up about 16% in the last 12 months.
“The economy is facing considerable turbulence (including geopolitics), with the potential positives of tax reform and deregulation and the potential negatives of tariffs and ‘trade wars,’ ongoing sticky inflation, high fiscal deficits and still rather high asset prices and volatility,” JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said. “As always, we hope for the best but prepare the Firm for a wide range of scenarios.”
Dimon wrote in his annual letter to shareholders this week that he expected the Trump administration’s tariffs “will slow down growth.”
Analysts had said leading up to earnings season that that while tariffs may not directly affect the banks themselves, they likely will take a toll on their customers. Wells Fargo (WFC) and Morgan Stanley (MS) also reported Friday, while Bank of America (BAC), Citigroup (C) and others are set to report next week.
2 hr 11 min ago
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.6%.
TradingView
S&P 500 futures rose 0.7%.
TradingView
Nasdaq 100 futures also added 0.7%.
TradingView
