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Wall Street on Friday notched its best week in over a month, with sentiment almost single-handedly being lifted by a surprise U.S. and China trade deal.
On Monday, the world's two largest economies reached an agreement under which they agreed to significantly reduce their extremely high tariff rates against each other. Investors cheered the move, and the belief is that there will be further de-escalation in trade.
The benchmark S&P 500 index (SP500) has turned positive for the year, ending a wild journey sparked by U.S. President Donald Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs announcement on April 2.
There was a host of economic data as well this week, with a benign April consumer inflation report grabbing attention. The earnings season also continued to chug along, with Cisco (CSCO) and Walmart (WMT) being the major companies that reported their results.
For the week, the S&P (SP500) advanced +5.3%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (COMP:IND) climbed +7.2%. The blue-chip Dow (DJI) added +3.4%. Read a preview of next week's major events in Seeking Alpha's Catalyst Watch.
Seeking Alpha's Calls Of The Week
Hercules Capital (HTGC): A Strong BDC Pick For Passive Investors.
AMD (AMD) Will Never Match Nvidia (NVDA), That's Why It's A Buy.
Lindblad Expeditions (LIND) Sailing Strongly Past Macro Turbulence.
Unusual Effects Of Anavex's (AVXL) Drug On Alzheimer's Disease.
Intellia Therapeutics (NTLA) Has Struggled, But It's Now Go-Time.
GigaCloud (GCT) Q1 Earnings: A Bumpy Ride With Bullish Upside.
Arbor Realty's (ABR) Dividend Cut Indicates Continued Pressure.
Fundamentals Vs. Technicals: Tesla's (TSLA) Cracks Are Widening.
Sell Plug Power (PLUG) On Potential Loss Of Hydrogen Tax Credit.
Triple Downgrade For SVOL: Easy Money Made, It's Time To Sell.
Weekly Movement
U.S. Indices
Dow +3.4% to 42,655. S&P 500 +5.3% to 5,958. Nasdaq +7.2% to 19,211. Russell 2000 +4.5% to 2,113. CBOE Volatility Index -21.3% to 17.24.
S&P 500 Sectors
Consumer Staples +1.5%. Utilities +2.3%. Financials +3.5%. Telecom +6.6%. Healthcare +0.3%. Industrials +5.5%. Information Technology +8.1%. Materials +2.5%. Energy +3.2%. Consumer Discretionary +7.7%. Real Estate +0.9%.
World Indices
London +1.5% to 8,685. France +1.9% to 7,887. Germany +1.1% to 23,767. Japan +0.7% to 37,754. China +0.8% to 3,367. Hong Kong +2.1% to 23,345. India +3.6% to 82,331.
Commodities and Bonds
Crude Oil WTI +2.4% to $62.49/bbl. Gold -4.7% to $3,187.2/oz. Natural Gas -12.2% to 3.334. Ten-Year Bond Yield -0.2 bps to 4.443.
Forex and Cryptos
EUR/USD -0.75%. USD/JPY +0.19%. GBP/USD -0.23%. Bitcoin -1%. Litecoin -4.6%. Ethereum -3%. XRP -3.8%.
Top S&P 500 Gainers
Super Micro Computer (SMCI) +44%. NRG Energy (NRG) +33%. First Solar (FSLR) +27%. Dell Technologies (DELL) +19%. Tesla (TSLA) +17%.
Top S&P 500 Losers
UnitedHealth Group (UNH) -23%. Fiserv (FI) -9%. The Hershey (HSY) -7%. Newmont (NEM) -7%. CVS Health (CVS) -7%.
Where will the markets be headed next week? Current trends and ideas? Add your thoughts to the comments section.
