Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on April 22, 2025
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Making sense of the forces driving global markets
By Alden Bentley, Americas Finance and Markets Breaking News Editor.
Jamie is away today so I'll provide a round-up of today's main market moves below. I'd love to hear from you, so please reach out to me with comments at alden.bentley@thomsonreuters.com.
If you have more time to read today, here are a few articles I recommend to help you make sense of what happened in markets.
1. Investors fear Trump's attacks on Powell will pile onpain 2. 'For our country': China's patriots are buying the dip 3. Wall Street bounces back as earnings take focus overtariff chaos 4. Bitcoin rises 5% above $91,000 5. US, Japan move closer to outline of trade deal, sourcesays 6. IMF cuts growth forecasts for most countries in wake ofcentury-high US tariffs 7. Bessent sees de-escalation in US-China trade tensions,talks to be 'a slog'Today's Key Market Moves
* The S&P 500, Nasdaq Composite and Dow Jones IndustrialAverage all close up more than 2%. * All 11 industry sectors in the S&P 500 rise, led byfinancials. * The dollar trades below 140 yen for the first time sinceSeptember, but ends 0.42% higher. The euro falls 0.73%. * Gold closes down 1.5%. * The 10-year Treasury note yield eases 1 basis point to4.3949%. * Brent crude oil falls 1.46% to $67.23 a barrel. * The pan-European STOXX 600 index rises 0.25%. * MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan closes almost flat, while Japan's Nikkei eases 0.17%Stocks rebound with no new Powell-bashing or trade tirades from Trump
Wall Street flipped to buy mode on Tuesday, without any fresh criticism of U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell or flip-flops on tariffs from President Donald Trump to disquiet markets again.
Indexes reversed Monday's tumble, hitting session highs following a report that U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had said a tariff standoff with China was unsustainable and he expected the situation to de-escalate, raising hopes a bit on U.S. trade negotiations.
With little other news on those fronts, investors were more focused on earnings. They were a mixed bag, with better-than-expected results from 3M Co sending its shares sharply higher as the biggest gainer on the Dow, while Northrop Grumman tanked. The most anticipated report of the day, arguably of the week, comes after the market close from Tesla.
The electric car and battery maker run by Trump's billionaire DOGE chieftain Elon Musk kicks off earnings for the "Magnificent Seven" megacaps and was up 4.6% late afternoon.
Magnificent Seven leaders Nvidia and Apple posted solid gains.
The move back into stocks took a bit of the safety bid off the benchmark 10-year Treasury note.
Gold continued to gleam as a default safe-haven, but likewise backed off after pricing at $3,500 per ounce for the first time ever.
The dollar did not set a new low, even against the safe-haven Swiss franc, which is about the best you can say about it given global investors have turned up their noses at America and its assets, for now.
The mood across markets remained fragile as investors awaited Trump's next utterance in his one-sided tussle with Powell over lowering interest rates, which has fueled concerns about the central bank's autonomy.
That said, while the president appears to be preemptively scapegoating the central bank chief for any economic fallout, Trump must know that even if he strong-armed Powell out of the way before his term is up a year from now, Powell is not the sole vote on Federal Open Market Committee.
Five rotating regional Fed presidents, seven Fed governors and the president of the New York Fed hash out policy decisions with him. The odd dissents aside, they have sung from the same tune sheet for months, and tariffs have only made their job harder.
What could move markets tomorrow?
* Australia, Japan, India flash PMIs * US earnings: Boeing before the opening bell * US five-year Treasury note auction * Federal Reserve Beige BookOpinions expressed are those of the author. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.
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(By Alden Bentley; Editing by Nia Williams)
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