Market Drama
Featuring Zoe CEO & Founder, Andres Garcia-Amaya, CFA
Welcome to this week’s Market Drama!
Stock Market Update:
- S&P 500: up 5.3% for the week; now up 1.3% YTD.
- It is now back in positive territory, after being down 19% from its Feb 19 high.
- Nasdaq: up 7.2% for the week; now flat YTD.
- Driver: Major progress in U.S.–China trade relations
- U.S. reduced most tariffs to 30%, including fentanyl-related and general product tariffs.
- China reduced tariffs to 10% on most U.S. goods and eased some non-tariff restrictions.
- Result: Markets rallied; interest rates rose on the news.
Economic Update:
- Inflation (April CPI):
- Headline: up 0.2% MoM, up 2.3% YoY (down from 2.4% in March).
- Core CPI: up 0.2% MoM, up 2.8% YoY — both slightly below expectations.
- No April impact from tariffs yet; analysts expect pressure to build starting May.
- Retail Sales:
- Core sales (ex-gas & autos): down 0.2%, weaker than expected.
- Indicates some consumer demand softness, but not alarming.
- Labor Market:
- Initial jobless claims: 229K, in line with expectations.
- Consumer Sentiment:
- Came in weak, continuing the trend of soft data lagging hard data.
- Outlook:
- Market appears to be looking past short-term softness, focusing on U.S.–China cooperation as a positive long-term signal.
Next Week:
- S&P Global PMI data.
- Home sales prices for April.
Stay tuned for next week.
– Andres
Disclosure: This material provided by Zoe Financial is for informational purposes only. It is not intended to serve as a substitute for personalized investment advice or as a recommendation or solicitation of any particular security, strategy or investment product. Nothing in these materials is intended to serve as personalized tax and/or investment advice since the availability and effectiveness of any strategy is dependent upon your individual facts and circumstances. Zoe Financial is not an accounting firm- clients and prospective clients should consult with their tax professional regarding their specific tax situation. Opinions expressed by Zoe Financial are based on economic or market conditions at the time this material was written. Economies and markets fluctuate. Actual economic or market events may turn out differently than anticipated. Facts presented have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. Zoe Financial, however, cannot guarantee the accuracy or completeness of such information, and certain information presented here may have been condensed or summarized from its original source.