📰 April 28 Market Pulse
🌐 Global Trade Pressures Build
China’s Commerce Ministry publicly rejected claims of fresh trade negotiations, countering former President Trump’s earlier remarks.
Key Takeaway: Bessent stresses Beijing must act to ease tensions, citing the 5-to-1 U.S.-China trade imbalance.
Additional Note: Trump indicated to The Atlantic that no specific market threshold would prompt tariff rollbacks.
Looking Ahead: Japan’s lead trade negotiator visits Washington on April 30 — another catalyst for trade headlines.
🚢 Supply Chain Warnings Flash
Cracks are widening across key global shipping routes:
China-U.S. Shipping: Vessel arrivals are dropping sharply.
Port of Los Angeles: Forecasts a 35% plunge in imports over the next few weeks.
Apollo Global: Warns of "Covid-like" shortages hitting by May.
Retail Impact: Shein hikes prices by up to 377%; the end of the U.S. "de minimis" import exemption this Friday could hit e-commerce hard.
📊 Critical Week for Markets
Earnings Watch: Four of the "Magnificent Seven" tech giants will report earnings, revealing early tariff impacts.
Data Drop:
Q1 GDP – Wednesday
April Jobs Report – Friday
These will be the first major macroeconomic reads of the post-tariff landscape.
🏛️ Potential Pillars of Support
Despite uncertainties, JPMorgan shifts to a tactically bullish stance:
Stronger consumer fundamentals: stable employment, wage growth, and healthy household balances.
Corporate earnings could help offset broader macro risks.
🔎 Stock Spotlight
- Nvidia $NVDA▼ 3.19%Huawei's new AI chip (Ascend 910D) challenges Nvidia’s high-end dominance.
- Peloton $PTON▲ 4.53%Truist upgrades to Buy, citing clearer profitability after cost cuts.
- Boeing $BA▲ 2.36%Bernstein upgrades to Outperform; growth trajectory looks promising post-Alaska incident.
- Plug Power $PLUG▲ 27.53%Surges after $525M secured debentures deal announcement.
- Domino’s $DPZ▲ 1.64%Rebounds despite mixed Q1; beat earnings but missed revenue.
- Apple $AAPL (▲ 0.31%): Only Magnificent Seven stock up today. JPMorgan expects a "better-than-feared" earnings report; Morgan Stanley lifts target to $235.
- Microsoft $MSFT (▼ 0.27%): Datacenter expansion slowdown reported; infrastructure spending strategy shifts.
- IBM $IBM (▲ 1.26%): Commits $150 billion toward domestic production of mainframes and quantum systems.
- Take-Two Interactive $TTWO (▲ 0.2%): BofA raises target to $250, banking on strong upcoming game releases (GTA 6, Borderlands).
- Eli Lilly $LLY (▼ 1.51%): Downgraded by HSBC; concerns over valuation and GLP-1 adoption slowdowns.
- Netflix $NFLX (▲ 0.99%) & VeriSign $VRSN (▲ 0.77%): Both notch new all-time highs.
- Progressive $PGR (▲ 0.09%): Gains after BofA upgrades to Buy post-pullback.
- Airbnb $ABNB (▲ 0.86%): Canaccord starts coverage with a Buy rating and $180 target.
- Booking Holdings $BKNG (▲ 0.96%): Target raised, but valuation keeps BofA rating at Neutral.
