📰 Inflation & Trade Talks Take Centre Stage
- NexxtGen Markets
- 6 days ago
- 3 min read
Walmart and Cisco Earnings in Focus
This week, global financial markets are laser-focused on inflation data and ongoing trade negotiations, with earnings from key corporates set to provide further direction.
🔍 Macro in Focus
Inflation Watch: Investors are closely eyeing Tuesday’s US CPI release and Thursday’s PPI data. These reports are expected to shed light on the inflationary impact of recent tariffs and guide expectations around the Federal Reserve’s next move.
Trade Developments: Trade negotiations between Washington and Beijing made progress last week, with both parties reportedly agreeing on a framework for further dialogue. Although tariffs remain a major sticking point, the tone has softened, providing modest relief to equity markets.
Federal Reserve: The Fed held interest rates steady for the third consecutive meeting, maintaining a cautious approach in light of persistent economic uncertainty.
📈 Market Highlights – Movers & Shakers
📊 Week in Review – US Indices Rebound - US stock futures surged into the new week following positive momentum from Friday. All three major indices ended last week slightly lower, but optimism around trade talks has lifted sentiment. President Trump’s suggestion to scale back tariffs from 145% to 80% has been viewed more as a negotiation tactic than a policy shift—but markets reacted favourably.
Dow Jones: +422 points
S&P 500: +1.4%
Nasdaq: +1.9%
🌡️ Inflation Outlook – Key Data Ahead - Markets are now bracing for the latest CPI data, which will likely influence both sentiment and monetary policy outlooks.
Expected CPI Readings (Tuesday):
Headline CPI: +0.3% MoM | +2.3% YoY
Core CPI (ex. food & energy): +0.3% MoM | +2.8% YoY
Although tariffs are expected to put upward pressure on consumer prices, the immediate impact on April’s CPI may be muted. Many businesses accelerated inventory purchases ahead of implementation, thereby delaying the pass-through effect to consumers.
📌 Key Equities in Motion
🚗 Tesla (TSLA) – $298.00 | ▲ +4.72% - Tesla shares rose for the third straight week, gaining 4.7% on Friday. Positive sentiment around trade talks and renewed focus from Elon Musk supported the rally. However, concerns remain over slowing Model Y sales in the US and Europe.
🔍 Alphabet (GOOG) – $154.00 | ▼ -0.88% - Alphabet lost nearly 7% last week, erasing $138 billion in market cap. The stock came under pressure amid fears Apple may shift its default search engine away from Google, posing a potential threat to its core advertising revenue.
🛢️ Aramco (SAOC) – $24.94 | ▲ +0.65% - Saudi Aramco reported Q1 profit of $26.01 billion, down 4.6% YoY, reflecting weaker oil sales and higher costs. Although performance-linked dividends were reduced by 98%, the company maintained total dividends of $21.36 billion, signalling continued support for shareholders despite industry headwinds.
🔗 Ethereum (ETH) – $2,477 | ▼ -0.40% - Ethereum saw a 34% gain last week following the successful Pectra upgrade. Despite a minor retracement on Friday, investor sentiment remains broadly bullish as its underlying fundamentals strengthen.
📅 Key Earnings Previews
🛒 Walmart (WMT) - Walmart is set to announce Q1 earnings, with consensus expecting a 3.3% YoY decline in EPS to $0.58 on revenue of $164.5B. Analysts are cautious about margin pressures driven by product mix, inflationary costs, and pricing strategy. Investors will be watching closely for any adjustments to full-year guidance and consumer spending patterns.
📡 Cisco (CSCO) - Cisco is expected to post Q3 earnings of $0.92 per share on $14.05B in revenue, marking a 10% YoY increase. UBS highlights potential upside due to strong networking demand and recent gains from the Splunk acquisition. Only 10% of its revenue is exposed to federal contracts, limiting potential fallout from regulatory spending cuts. The recent pause in tariff enforcement should also soften any near-term impact.
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