Equities_11.04.25
| Name | Daily Close | Daily Change | Daily Change (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dow | 40,608.45 | 2,962.86 | 7.87% |
| S&P 500 | 5,456.90 | 474.13 | 9.52% |
| Nasdaq | 17,124.97 | 1,857.06 | 12.16% |
| VIX | 33.62 | -18.71 | -35.75% |
| Gold | 3,099.50 | 20.1 | 0.65% |
| Oil | 62.92 | 0.57 | 0.91% |
US MARKET
Wall Street’s gyrations shook markets anew on Friday, with stocks wiping out losses to extend their biggest rally since 2023 as a selloff in bonds waned. The up move was triggered by a report that a Fed official said the central bank is ready to help stabilise markets, if needed. Nevertheless, volatility shows little signs of easing as concerns that President Donald Trump’s fast-evolving trade policy is not only shaking the globe but threatening the US status as the world’s safe haven.
At the close, the S&P 500 was up 1.8%, the Nasdaq 100 up 1.9%, the Dow Jones up 1.6%. Treasury 30-year yields increased further, up 2bps, the 10-year up 7 bps to 4.46%. The weekly moves in the back-end have been circa 50 bps. The greenback hit a fresh six-month low.
As China hiking duties on all American goods (125% now), shares of chipmakers with US manufacturing plummeted. Tesla Inc. stopped taking orders in China for Model S sedans and Model X sport utility vehicles — both of which are imported from the US. Meantime, JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s stock traders took in a record haul, boosted by chaotic market moves set off by policy announcements.
Investors should sell any rallies in the S&P 500 until the US and China de-escalate the global trade war and the Federal Reserve steps in, according to Bank of America’s Michael Hartnett. The strategist said tariffs and the resulting market turmoil were turning US exceptionalism into “US repudiation.” He recommends a short position on stocks — until the S&P 500 hits 4,800 points — and a long bet on two-year Treasuries. The guage traded around 5,340 Friday. Higher bond yields, lower stocks and a weaker dollar are “driving global asset liquidation, will likely force policymakers to act,” Hartnett wrote in a note. But investors should “sell the rips in risk assets.”
Lets be clear, the US markets are not trading in the last couple weeks like their traditional developed safe-haven status. They’re trading more like a weak emerging-market country. The dollar is sliding and the bond market is being threatened. As we stated on Thursday – from US exceptionalism to sell everything US.
AUSTRALIAN EQUITY MARKET WRAP
The Australian share market closed lower on Friday, sealing a week that saw the bourse record some of its most outsized moves since 2020 as an escalating trade war between the world’s two largest economic powers gathered momentum. The S&P/ASX 200 Index was off 0.8%, or 63.1 points to 7646.5 points at the close, moderating its early 2% loss after US futures rose. The index is down around 0.9% this week – its second consecutive weekly loss. Ten of the main’s index’s 11 sectors were lower led by energy.
Despite a 90-day reprieve extended to most countries, investors remain cautious about the broader impact of U.S. trade policy on global economic growth. Financial stocks led losses, with notable declines in Macquarie Group (-1.3%), ANZ Group (-1.9%), NAB (-1.8%), and Westpac (-2.1%). Resource shares also weakened on falling commodity prices, including BHP Group (-2.2%), Woodside Energy (-2.4%), and Santos (-1.1%). In contrast, gold miners rallied as bullion prices hit fresh record highs, with Northern Star Resources and Evolution Mining surging 4.9% and 7.1%, respectively.
ASX seen as a ‘haven’ amid Wall Street exodus. Investors are redirecting money once bound for Wall Street and fast-growing Silicon Valley tech giants back toward the Australian share market as intense volatility in the United States turns the ASX into a haven. The wave of Australian money that has piled into Wall Street over the past two years could be set to reverse as investors seek shelter in equity markets that are protected from the escalating trade war between the US and China. While the S&P/ASX 200 dropped 2.3% to 7529.1 on Friday morning, the bourse is holding up better than its US counterparts this year. Australia’s benchmark index is down 7.3%, while the S&P 500 has plunged over 10% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq is down 15%.