It was a rollercoaster week for the market
Major indexes extended volatile Trump tariff trading into Monday, with the Dow marking its biggest intraday oscillation ever. The blue-chip dropped more than 1,700 points at its session lows, swung 2,595 points back into positive territory, before finally finishing 350 points lower.
On Wednesday, Trump put into effect a 90-day pause on reciprocal levies, with the exception of China, which now sees a 145% duty on all goods. The reprieve from trade tensions sent stocks to historic gains. The Dow soared 2,962 points, or 7.9%, for its largest single-day percentage gain since March 2020. The Nasdaq soared 12.2% for its best day since 2001, while the S&P 500 marked its biggest win since 2008.
Stocks continued to seesaw for the rest of the week, with investors unpacking consumer price index (CPI) and producer price index (PPI) data during the last couple days. Thursday saw a pullback across the board, and at this point on Friday, stocks are surging after rebounding from their midday deficit. For the week, all three indexes are eyeing weekly wins.
Retailers Making Headlines This Week
Several retailers have been making waves this week. Lovesac (LOVE) popped following a quarterly beat and impressive full-year outlook, while impressive net sales in March gave Costco Wholesale (COST) a boost. Meanwhile, car retailer CarMax (KMX) geared up for its own Q4 earnings, just as Dollar General (DG) was upgraded to “neutral” from “sell” at Citigroup. Also seeing analyst attention was beverage chain Starbucks (SBUX), which suffered a downgrade to “neutral” from “outperform” at Baird.
Tech and Chip Stocks Make Noise
Big Tech and chip stocks suffered a huge brunt of tariff tensions over the past several days, though Marvell Technology (MRVL) garnered even more attention after revealing a billion-dollar sale. Broadcom (AVGO) announced its own buyback program, options traders flocked to Nvidia (NVDA), and Microsoft (MSFT) shuttered from its impressive 10% Wednesday rally.
Cloud name Constellation Energy (CEG) and tech leader Apple (AAPL) enjoyed upbeat analyst attention of their own, while fintech giants Affirm (AFRM) and PayPal (PYPL) struggled against tariff headwinds.
Big Bank Earnings Roll In
The third week of April features a packed economic calendar, including fresh retail sales data, housing starts, and regional manufacturing updates. Investors will also hear from multiple Federal Reserve officials, offering potential clues about the central bank’s policy outlook. A host of major financial names are set to report earnings, including Bank of America (BAC), Charles Schwab (SCHW), Citigroup (C), Goldman Sachs (GS), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), and PNC Financial (PNC).
Don’t forget to check out what the recent tariff milestones means for a bear market, pulled from historic data by Schaeffer’s Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White, as well as Senior V.P. of Research Todd Salamone’s take on where more optimism could be shaken out from the S&P 500.