On the evening of April 25, Beijing time, US stocks opened mixed on Friday. Trump's latest statement about hoping to maintain tariffs between 20% to 50% for another year put pressure on the indices. The US side's claim of "negotiating on tariff issues" was once again denied. Investors are weighing important Earnings Reports from Alphabet and others.
On April 25, Beijing time, the three major US indices showed divergent trends, as of the time of writing, $Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI.US)$ down 0.38%, $Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC.US)$ up 0.35%, $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$ up 0.05%.
The latest statement from President Trump regarding tariffs has increased market pressure. Trump stated that if the USA can maintain high tariffs of 20%-50% on various countries a year later, he would consider it a 'complete victory.'
Trump also denied that the rise in Treasury yields forced him to make the decision to postpone tariffs for 90 days. He stated, 'The bond market is in panic, but I am not.'
Chinese officials reiterated that there have been no consultations or negotiations regarding tariffs.
According to Xinhua News Agency on Thursday, Chinese Ministry of Commerce spokesperson He Yadong denied the existence of any trade negotiations and requested the cancellation of 'unilateral' tariffs.
Xinhua News Agency reported on Friday that Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jikun responded sternly at a regular press conference to the U.S. claim that 'China and the USA are negotiating tariffs', stating that there are currently no consultations or negotiations regarding tariffs between China and the USA, urging the U.S. side not to mislead.
Previously, the White House signaled a softening of its stance — currently, the USA imposes a total tariff of up to 145% on Chinese goods imported into the USA. On Tuesday, Trump stated that tariffs would 'decrease significantly but will not go to zero.'
Colin Graham, head of multi-asset strategy at Robeco Groep, commented: 'Trump has started to back down, no longer insisting on the 'art of the deal'. But we know he might backtrack and reinstate tariffs at any time, so currently, this news feels more like noise rather than a clear signal.'
Peter Kinsella, head of Forex strategy at Swiss Bank, stated: 'Various U.S. statements and news are contradictory, and the entire narrative is completely unclear. This is impossible to trade.'
Richard Flax, Chief Investment Officer of Moneyfarm, stated: "Currently, it is widely believed that this level of tariffs is unsustainable in the long term, but achieving a real adjustment may still take some time. The question is at what level these tariffs will ultimately stabilize."
Anthony Saglimbene, Chief Market Strategist at Ameriprise, stated: "The market needs just a spark to break free from its sluggish state. It is expected that US Stocks will remain volatile, and next week's earnings reports from technology giants will be key to determining the trend of the Large Cap index."
Focus Stocks
Most Growth Tech stocks rose. $Alphabet-C (GOOG.US)$ Increased by over 2%, $Tesla (TSLA.US)$ Increased by nearly 2%, $Meta Platforms (META.US)$ Wait for the increase.
Most China Concept Stocks are trending down. $XPeng (XPEV.US)$Dropped over 4%, $KE Holdings (BEKE.US)$ fell nearly 4%, $NIO Inc (NIO.US)$ Fell over 10%. $Alibaba (BABA.US)$ And rose slightly.
$Alphabet-C (GOOG.US)$ Increased by nearly 3%, the company's first-quarter revenue exceeded expectations, while announcing a stock buyback.
$Intel (INTC.US)$ Fell over 8%, with the company's second-quarter revenue expectations lower than market estimates.
$Pony AI (PONY.US)$ It surged over 9%, and will engage in strategic cooperation with Tencent Cloud to develop Level 4 autonomous driving and implement Robotaxi services.
The deep-sea mining company $Odyssey Marine Exploration (OMEX.US)$ Soared again by over 80%, rising nearly 300% in two days, driven by Trump's order to promote deep-sea mining.
Editor/Somer
