MARKET SNAPSHOT

U.S. stocks started the week with small gains as investors looked ahead to earnings from a number of bellwether tech companies in the coming days. Treasury yields continued to fall as April looks to be ending more quietly than it began. Oil prices fell as OPEC+ appears poised to increase output. Gold prices reached their third highest close as the dollar weakened.

MARKET WRAPS

EQUITIES

U.S. stocks ended the day in mixed territory, after recovering from midday losses.

How much has trade turmoil hit the economy and corporate earnings? Investors will get some clues this week, with the monthly jobs report and data showing how fast the economy grew in the first three months of this year.

Plus, four of the Magnificent Seven tech stocks -- Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms and Microsoft -- are set to report earnings. Apple's reliance on its Chinese supply chain will be particularly scrutinized.

"The focus this week will be on how much this tariff stress has hit real-world decision-making," ING analysts said.

The Dow industrials ticked up 0.3%, while the S&P 500 eked out a gain of less than 0.1% for the day. The Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.1%.

Earlier Monday, Chinese shares ended lower, with property stocks leading the declines. Investors are digesting China's latest Politburo meetings, where Beijing cautioned about the negative impact from worsening trade tensions and the need to further strengthen growth, Deutsche Bank analysts wrote.

The Shanghai Composite Index dropped 0.2%. The Shenzhen Composite Index declined 0.9% and ChiNext Price Index was almost 0.7% lower. Hong Kong Hang Seng Index was little changed.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.4% as fears around trade tensions between the U.S. and China continued to ebb. Auto stocks led gains.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added 0.4%, posting its third consecutive session of increases.

Stocks in New Zealand also posted a third consecutive session of increases, as the S&P/NZX 50 Index added 0.7%.

COMMODITIES

Oil futures settled lower after gaining the previous two sessions, kept back by concerns about imminent output increases by OPEC+ and lack of visibility on trade relations between the U.S. and China.

OPEC+ may unwind supply cuts even at the expense of short-term price stability while positioning for longer-term gains once trade deals materialize, Razan Hilal of Forex.com said. But "a sustainable upturn likely still hinges on progress in trade talks and supportive economic data."

West Texas Intermediate dropped 1.5% to $62.05 a barrel, and Brent settled down 1.5% at $65.86 a barrel.

Front-month gold prices finished up 1.5% to $3,332.50 a troy ounce, marking its third-highest close in history and the second positive session out of the past three.

Analysts are debating if the record set by gold futures last week is the top of the yellow metal's strong surge so far this year.

"The risk premium is now being unwound and unless tensions build again, we will stand by our view that we have seen the top," said Rhona O'Connell of StoneX.

TODAY'S TOP HEADLINES

Bessent Says China Must Take Lead on Tariffs Talks, Hints at India Deal

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday that it is "up to China" to de-escalate trade tensions with the U.S. amid confusion over whether talks are taking between the two governments.

Bessent said in an interview on CNBC that the tariffs were "unsustainable" for China because Chinese companies export five times more products to the U.S. than vice versa.

The comment about de-escalation being up to China could damp hopes of lower trade barriers. President Donald Trump said last week that his administration has been in touch with China "every day," although Chinese officials have denied any substantial contact on trade. However, Bessent did suggest the U.S. is likely to strike an early trade deal with India.

ECB Has Room to Lower Key Rate as Inflation Nears Target, Says Villeroy

The European Central Bank is on track to bring inflation in the eurozone back to its 2% target, and has room to lower its key interest rate as growth slows amid higher U.S. tariffs, the head of the Bank of France said Monday.

In a radio interview, Francois Villeroy de Galhau also said that while slower economic growth in the U.S. as a result of higher tariffs is a blow, it also presents Europe with an opportunity to become an anchor of stability for the global economy.

The eurozone's inflation rate fell to 2.2% in March from 2.3% in February, just above the ECB's 2% target. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal expect figures to be released Friday that show the inflation rate edged down again in April.

Goldman Sachs Is Advising Countries Scrambling to Please Trump on Tariffs

South Africa knew tariffs from the U.S. were coming and wanted to figure out how to appease President Trump. So it turned to Goldman Sachs.

Since late February, South African leaders including President Cyril Ramaphosa have held conversations with the bank about trade and improving relations with the U.S., people familiar with the matter said. One piece of advice Goldman gave to the president: consider changing a law, even at the margins, that requires Black ownership of some companies, and another that allows the government to seize property from landowners to address racial disparities.

The land-seizure law, signed by the president in January, has drawn the ire of Elon Musk, a South Africa native, who described it as "racist." Trump described it as "a human rights violation." Goldman advised South Africa that everything comes down to Trump's feelings.

IBM to Spend $150 Billion in U.S. Over Next Five Years

International Business Machines plans to invest $150 billion in the U.S. over the next five years as tariffs threaten to make international manufacturing more expensive.

The Armonk, N.Y., software company said Monday the investment includes more than $30 billion in research and development for making mainframe and quantum computers in the U.S.

IBM already manufactures mainframes in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. It also operates a fleet of quantum computers, a growing sector of the software industry.

Domino's Expects Same-Store Sales to Grow in 2025 Despite Persisting Macro Pressures

Domino's Pizza guided for same-store sales to grow this year, though management warned that persisting macroeconomic pressures could pose a threat to its outlook.

The forecast came as the pizza chain on Monday logged lower-than-expected profit and sales in the first quarter, during which it faced what Chief Executive Russell Weiner called a challenging global macroeconomic environment.

Shares, which edged lower in pre-market trading, have rebounded and were recently flat at $488.79. Despite having gained 16% since the beginning of the year, the stock is down 7.4% in the past 52 weeks.

Expected Major Events for Tuesday

08:59/SKA: Mar Department store sales

23:00/SKA: Mar Service Industry Activity Index

23:00/SKA: Mar Industrial Production Index

23:50/JPN: Mar Preliminary Retail Sales

23:50/JPN: Mar Preliminary Industrial Production

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 28, 2025 16:51 ET (20:51 GMT)

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