United States
Volatility continued to affect U.S. risk assets, but equity indexes rebounded strongly from Monday’s losses, closing firmly in the green. Positive earnings reports and comments from Treasury Secretary Bessent, who expressed expectations of a de-escalation in U.S.-China trade tensions, helped boost market sentiment. Bessent described the current trade war as “unsustainable,” encouraging buyers to return to risk assets.
The Dow surged by more than 1,000 points, closing at 39,186, a 2.66% gain. The Nasdaq Composite rose by 429 points, up 2.71%, to close at 16,300. The S&P 500 also saw broad sector gains, rising 2.51% to 5,287.76, adding 129 points. Financials and consumer discretionary sectors led the charge, both surging over 3%.
3M’s strong earnings report saw its shares climb 8.1%, as the company reaffirmed its full-year outlook, reassuring investors. While it noted that tariffs could reduce earnings per share (EPS) by 20 to 40 cents, it excluded this from guidance as it worked to develop mitigation plans. GE Aerospace also saw gains, rising 6.07% on better-than-expected results. However, Halliburton dropped 5.57% after it indicated that tariffs would reduce its second-quarter earnings by 2 to 3 cents per share.
AI cloud computing company, which recently listed in the U.S., surged 8.74% to $38.51, buoyed by positive initial coverage from Wall Street analysts. Financial stocks also saw gains, with JPMorgan up 2.88% and Wells Fargo rising 2.67%.
Tech stocks performed well, with Apple gaining 3.42% and Meta rising 3.22%, reaching $500.28. Tesla climbed 4.60% to $237.97 as traders awaited its earnings release. After the market closed, Tesla reported a 20% decline in automotive revenue and an EPS of 27 cents, lower than the expected 39 cents. The company announced it would revisit its 2025 guidance during its second-quarter update. In after-hours trading, Tesla shares rose 2.32% to $243.50.
Longer-term bond yields were relatively stable, with the U.S. 10-year note dipping 1 basis point to 4.40% and the 30-year yield decreasing by 2 basis points to 4.88%. The 2-year yield, however, increased by 5 basis points to 3.82%. The U.S. dollar rebounded from multi-year lows, gaining 0.45%. The USD/JPY traded at 141.76.
In news after the market had closed, President Trump said that he has “no intention” of firing Federal reserve Chairman Powell before his term ends in 2026.
Europe
European shares reversed early losses to close higher on Tuesday. The markets initially opened lower but regained momentum in the afternoon following remarks from U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent, who expressed expectations that tariff tensions with China would de-escalate. The Euro Stoxx 600 ended the session with a 0.25% gain, adding 1.29 points to close at 507.71. Eight out of the eleven sectors saw gains, with consumer stocks and communication services leading the charge. The UK market mirrored these movements, closing higher by 0.64% at 8,328.6, also driven by strong performances in consumer stocks.
L’Oréal’s stock surged following better-than-expected sales results, surpassing cautious forecasts. Growth in European sales offset weaker demand from the U.S. However, Novo Nordisk shares fell by 7.42%, after trial results from Eli Lilly’s experimental weight-loss drug showed comparable effectiveness to Novo’s Ozempic. Additionally, a report from Wells Fargo stating that Amazon was pausing some data centre leases caused Schneider Electric to drop by 2.7%.
Mining stocks saw improvements, with copper reaching a two-week high. Antofagasta rose by 1.75%, while Rio Tinto climbed by 1.57%.
On the economic front, consumer confidence in Europe declined further in April. The IMF also downgraded its growth forecast for the UK, reducing it from 1.5% to 1.1% due to the impact of U.S. tariffs. Bond yields edged lower, with Germany’s 10-year yield dropping by 3 basis points to 2.44%, and the UK yield decreasing by 2 basis points to 4.54%. Both the EUR/USD and GBP/USD were lower as the U.S. dollar bounced back from recent lows, with the euro falling 0.81% to 1.1421 and the British pound dropping 0.36% to 1.3333.
Australia
The Australian share market posted a marginal loss as traders returned from the Easter weekend, shrugging off declines in US indexes on Monday. The ASX 200 slipped 2.4 points, or 0.03%, to close at 7,816.70.
However, deeper losses were avoided thanks to a strong rally in banking heavyweight CBA, which surged 4.19%, adding $6.75 to reach a new record high of $168.00. On the day, only three of the eleven sectors finished higher, with financials leading the gains, up 1.23%. The technology sector was the weakest performer, falling 2.26%.
CBA’s strength was driven by investor demand for perceived safety and earnings certainty. Among the other major banks, NAB and ANZ each fell around 0.5%, while Westpac ended flat. Macquarie Group rose 0.60% to $180.83 after announcing the sale of its US and European public asset management businesses to Nomura for $1.8 billion. The deal transfers approximately $180 billion in client assets to the Japanese bank, freeing up about $1 billion in capital for Macquarie and delivering a $300 million gain on the sale. Macquarie confirmed it will retain its private asset management operations.
Gold prices continued their upward momentum, lifting gold-related stocks. Evolution Mining gained 4.85% to $8.87, while West African Resources jumped 6.61% to $2.58. However, Bellevue Gold fell 7.11% after announcing the closure of its forward sales contracts at prices below current market levels. The company stated that its gold production through to December 2025 will now be sold at spot prices. Among the major miners, BHP finished unchanged at $36.51, while Fortescue Metals dropped 0.93% to $14.95.
The technology sector faced broad-based weakness, following the negative lead from US markets. NextDC was the worst performer, falling 6.18% to $10.48, while WiseTech Global declined 2.40% to $80.03.
In the bond market, Australian yields moved lower, with the 10-year government bond yield falling 2 basis points to 4.25%, and the 2-year yield down 7 basis points to 3.21%.
In overnight trade, the ASX 200 equity futures have rallied strongly with a 100-point gain, adding 1.28%. The AUDUSD has slipped on the back of a stronger US dollar and will start the day at 0.6374, a drop of 0.64%.
Commodities
Oil prices rallied on Tuesday following the U.S. issuing new sanctions against an Iranian LPG company and its owner, amid ongoing negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program. This development countered Monday’s optimism that the two countries were nearing a potential agreement. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) saw a 1.78% increase, rising by US$1.05 to US$63.46, while Brent Crude gained 1.57%, reaching US$67.30. The return to risk assets also provided support for the commodity.
Copper prices surged to a two-week high on the London Metal Exchange (LME) as traders returned from the Easter break. The price also increased by 3.17% on the Comex exchange in the U.S. Iron ore rose to US$98.95, marking a gain of 10 cents over the previous 24 hours. The commodity had slipped earlier in Asian trading but recovered by the close.
Gold, however, fell due to profit-taking and a rebound in the U.S. dollar. The precious metal dropped by 1.34%, settling at US$3,378.91, a loss of US$45. Earlier in the session, gold had reached $3,500 for the first time before retreating. Silver also saw a decline, falling 0.65% to US$432.48.
Bitcoin experienced a significant rally, adding 4.4% to reach US$91,206. Analysts attributed the rally to Bitcoin breaking its correlation with U.S. technology stocks, and traders expecting further clarity on the U.S. administration’s plans for a strategic reserve of crypto assets in the near term. Ethereum also surged, rising 7.6% to US$1,697.
Economic Calendar
AU:
- S&P Purchasing Managers Composite Index PMI (Apr) – 10:00am
EU:
- S&P Purchasing Managers Composite Index PMI – Europe and UK (Apr) – 7:00pm
US:
- Federal Reserve Member – Waller Speech – 12:00am
- S&P Purchasing Managers Composite Index PMI (Apr) – 12:45am
- New Home sales (Mar) – 1:00am
This article was written by Paul Darwell, Rivkin Securities Pty Ltd. Enquiries can be made via [email protected] or by phoning +612 8302 3632.
