synopsis

Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives said this was a major week ahead for the markets and that he braced for generally strong results from the big techs due to very favorable demand trends.

U.S. stock futures traded lower in Asian hours on Monday after finishing the week ended April 25 on an upbeat note. The market mood has turned cautious as traders gear up for a barrage of earnings and key economic data, even as the tariff uncertainty lingers amid the ongoing confounding news flow.

In the Asian session, the major index futures were trading as follows:

  • S&P 500 futures: -0.50%
  • Nasdaq 100 futures: -0.65%
  • Dow futures: -0.37%
  • Russell 2000 futures: -0.96%

 

Crude oil futures edged down in the Asian session after losing 2.6% last week. Gold futures also traded slightly lower after posting a weekly loss of 0.90%. The yellow metal hit a record high of over $3,500 an ounce last Monday before retreating amid optimism concerning President Donald Trump's administration striking trade deals. 

After slipping last week, the 10-year U.S. Treasury note yield fell 3.1 basis points to 4.235% in overnight trading.

Asian markets were mixed. The Japanese market benefitted from the yen's weakness, while the Chinese and Hong Kong markets retreated even as traders hoped for government stimulus.

In a statement posted on the Ministry of Finance's website, China's Minister of Finance Lan Fuan signaled that the country will adopt "more proactive macroeconomic policies to promote the realization of the expected growth target for the whole year and continue to bring stability and momentum to the global economy."

A data-heavy week looms ahead for Wall Street, although Monday's calendar is relatively empty.

Among the market-moving data scheduled for the week are the monthly non-farm payrolls data for April, the March Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, a duo of manufacturing activity data for April, the Conference Board's consumer confidence reading for April, the advance first-quarter GDP report, and the April personal income and spending report, which comprises the personal consumption expenditure index — the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge.

Following Alphabet, Inc.'s (GOOGL) (GOOGL) stellar results, the spotlight now shifts to its mega-cap tech peers Apple, Inc. (AAPL), Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), Meta Platforms, Inc. (META), and Amazon, Inc. (AMZN), which are all lined up to announce their quarterly results this week. 

Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives said this was a major week ahead for the markets and that he braced for generally strong results from the big techs due to very favorable demand trends.

The analyst expects the week to be a "confidence booster rather than adding to market fears" but cautioned that tariffs remain a concern.

LPL Financial Chief Technical Strategist Adam Turnquist said in a Friday note that investors should remain on high alert for a potential shift back toward risk-on leadership.

"A recovery in high beta's relative performance has started to unfold after the ratio chart tumbled into a confluence of key support," the strategist said, adding that generally, high-beta leadership is associated with more of a risk-on backdrop as investors rotate into higher volatility names to capitalize on a market uptrend. 

Domino's Pizza (DPZ), F5 Networks, Inc. (FFIV). NXP Semiconductor (NXPI), Rambus (RMBS), Crane (CR), Sammina (SANM), SBA Communications (SBAC) and Transocean (RIG) are among the notable companies due to report on Monday. 

Thanks to a fairly positive start to the first-quarter reporting season, President Donald Trump's toned-down rhetoric on Fed Chair Jerome Powell, along with hopes of trade deals between the U.S. and its trading partners, the major averages advanced notably last week.

The major averages ended higher in all but one session of the week, with the broader S&P 500 Index and the tech-focused Nasdaq Composite Index finishing at their highest levels since April 2, the day before 'Liberation Day' tariffs were announced.

The weekly performances of the major averages are as follows:

  • S&P 500 Index: +4.6%
  • Nasdaq Composite Index: +6.7%
  • Dow Jones Industrial Average: +2.5%
  • Russell 2,000 Index: +4.1%

 

The S&P 500's weekly gain is the second biggest seven-day gain this year, according to Bloomberg.

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) exchange-traded fund (ETF) ended Friday's session up 0.72% at $550.64, and the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) ETF jumped 1.11% at $472.56.

The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA) gained 0.01% to $401.02.

The iShares Russell 2,000 ETF (IWM) ended up 0.03% at $194.12.

For the year-to-date period, the  SPY,  QQQ, and DIA are down over 5.8%, 7.4%, and 5.4%, respectively. The IWM has fallen a steeper 12%.

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