Wall Street extended its rally this week, fully erasing the losses suffered after the Trump administration’s tariff announcement on April 2.
Investor sentiment was buoyed by encouraging developments in trade negotiations and, most importantly, a stronger-than-expected start to earnings season.
Corporate America showed resilience in the face of trade headwinds. Mega-cap tech giants —including Microsoft Corp. MSFT, Meta Platforms Inc. META, Apple Inc. AAPL, and Amazon.com Inc. AMZN — all surpassed Wall Street estimates, with Microsoft logging its best weekly performance in years.
The S&P 500 posted its second consecutive weekly gain, marking its longest winning streak since May 2024.
Top individual performers included Arista Networks Inc. ANET and Carrier Global Corp. CARR, both soaring roughly 20% for the week. On the downside, Becton, Dickinson and Company BDX tumbled 20%, making it the worst performer.
Michigan-based automaker General Motors Co. GM topped earnings forecasts yet withdrew guidance for the year amid “massive uncertainty” over tariffs.
From a sector perspective, industrials and technology led the charge, while energy stocks lagged as crude oil prices slumped. Oil marked its second-worst week of the year, falling to $58 per barrel after Saudi Arabia signaled its readiness to cope with lower prices, stoking speculation that OPEC+ may boost output further in the coming months.
President Donald Trump‘s threat to impose secondary sanctions on nations buying Iranian oil failed to stabilize crude prices, which continued to slide.
Macroeconomic data painted a mixed picture. First-quarter gross domestic product shrank by 0.3%, missing forecasts of a 0.4% rise, largely due to a surge in imports.
Yet, inflation and employment data provided a more positive outlook. Nonfarm payrolls rose by 177,000 in April, beating the 130,000 consensus and underscoring labor market strength.
Meanwhile, Personal Consumption Expenditure inflation cooled: annual price gains slowed from 2.7% in February to 2.3% in March. Core PCE, the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge, eased to 2.6% year over year, aligning with expectations and down from 3%.
Looking ahead, markets will focus on the Federal Reserve’s two-day policy meeting starting Tuesday. While no rate change is anticipated, Chair Jerome Powell‘s Wednesday press conference will be closely watched, especially after renewed calls from President Trump to cut interest rates.
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