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US equity markets advanced, consolidating the strong gains recorded in the previous session and lifting the S&P 500 and Nasdaq to their highest settlements since 15 April as investors continued to cheer a cooling President’s rhetoric around tariffs and his criticism of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell- Dow rose +420-points or +1.07% to 39,606.57, paring an earlier rally of as much as 1,189-points that lifted the index to 40,376.11. Amazon.com Inc (up +4.28%) and Nvidia Corp (+3.86%) both gained ~4%.

US equity markets rebounded strongly, more than recouping the previous session’s sharp declines as investors digested a busy corporate earnings calendar and comments from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent  - Dow rose +1,017-points or +2.66%, with all 30 index components advancing.  Nvidia Corp +2.04% after Amazon.com Inc (+3.50%) pushed back against reports that it was pulling back on building artificial-intelligence (AI) infrastructure. “This is routine capacity management, and there haven’t been any recent fundamental changes in our expansion plans,” wrote Kevin Miller, vice president of global data centres (DC) at Amazon Web Services (AWS), in a post on LinkedIn late Monday (21 April) in response to reports that the Cloud business delayed several new DC leases. Boeing Co rose +2.00% after the aerospace company agreed to sell portions of its Digital Aviation Solutions business to private-equity firm Thoma Bravo in a deal worth US$10.55B.

US equity markets resumed trading following the Good Friday holiday with steep losses, with the so-called ‘Magnificent Seven’ cohort of large capitalisation technology stocks under particular pressure - Dow shed -972-points or -2.48%, extending its decline into a fourth consecutive session. UnitedHealth Group Inc (down -6.34%) was the worst performing Dow component overnight, extending the health insurer’s two-day decline to -27.3% - the stock’s worst two-day performance since 7 August, 1998 – after releasing its first quarter result last Thursday (17 April) and lowering its annual profit forecast on expectations of high medical costs for the rest of the year.   Nvidia Corp lost -4.51% after Reuters reported that Huawei Technologies planned to begin mass shipments of an advanced artificial intelligence (AI) chip to customers in China as early as next month. Meanwhile, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jensen Huang met Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Monday (21 April), following a meeting with Chinese leaders in Beijing last Thursday (17 April). Nike Inc (up +0.65%) was the only Dow component to advance overnight.

US equity markets tumbled as investors digested news of U.S. restrictions on chip exports to China and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's latest assessment of the economy - Dow dropped -700 or -1.73% Nvidia Corp -6.87%  after disclosing in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) after the close of the previous session that sales of its H20 chips to China would require licenses from the Department of Commerce “for the indefinite future”. The chipmaker said it would record charges in its fiscal first quarter of up to US$5.5B for inventory and cancelled sales.

US equity markets retreated in muted trading  - Dow fell -156-points or -0.38% Boeing Co fell -2.36% and was the worst performer in the 30-stock index after a Bloomberg report said China ordered its airlines not to take any further deliveries of the company’s jets, marking the latest escalation in the trade war between Washington and Beijing.
Nvidia Corp fell over >5.5% in extended trading (after rising +1.35% in the regular session) after the company disclosed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that future sales of its H20 AI accelerators to China would require a license from the U.S. Department of Commerce. The licenses are unlikely to be forthcoming. As a result, Nvidia will take a US$5.5B charge in the current (first) quarter for H20 inventory and cancelled sales.

US equity markets advanced as investors digested another busy slate of information including the latest developments in a trade war with China, earnings reports from major banks and economic data - Dow rose +619-points or +1.56%, with the 30-stock index trading in an 1,150 point range after swinging more than >2,000 points between its high and low for the day in each of the preceding four (4) trading sessions.  Apple Inc (up +4.06%) was the leading Dow component on Friday (11 April) amid growing optimism the iPhone maker could win an exemption from the Trump administration’s tariffs. Nvidia Corp, which outsources manufacturing to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) Ltd (up +3.94% on the New York Stock Exchange), gained +3.12% after the China Semiconductor Industry Association said chips made by U.S. firms with outsourced manufacturing operations would not be subject to tariffs on U.S. goods. Meta Platforms Inc (up +7.7%) and the Federal Trade Commission face off tonight AEST over antitrust allegations which could force the social media giant to unwind its acquisition of messaging platform WhatsApp and photo-sharing app Instagram. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mark Zuckerberg is expected to appear in the witness stand.

US equity markets retreated, handing back a portion of the huge gains logged in the previous session’s near record breaking rebound. Losses accelerated after the White House confirmed that the cumulative tariff rate on China would actually total 145% (consisting of the new 125% duty on goods, on top of the 20% rate levied in response to the fentanyl crisis), overshadowing cooler-than-expected inflation figures.
Dow fell -1,015-points or -2.50% Nike Inc (down -8.29%) was the worst performer in the 30-stock index, Nvidia Corp fell -6.79% after soaring +18.72% in the previous session.  A report from NPR said the White House has paused plans to put additional restrictions on sales of Nvidia’s H20 artificial-intelligence chips after CEO Jensen Huang attended a dinner hosted by Trump and promised more investment in U.S.-based AI data centres. Separately, Morgan Stanley analyst Joseph Moore kept Nvidia as a top pick, reiterating his Overweight rating and price target of $162. Walt Disney Co fell -6.79%, with China said it would reduce the number of U.S. movies it imports.  Amazon.com Inc (-5.17%), American Express Co (-5.9%), Goldman Sachs Group Inc (-5.24%), and Merck & Co Inc (-5.32%) all dropped over >5%.  

A late session slide erased earlier strong gains on US equity markets to cap another volatile session after Beijing vowed to "fight to the end" in response to President Trump's threat of imposing new 50% tariffs unless China rapidly removed its retaliatory measures - Dow settled -320-points or -0.84% lower, having been up as much as +1,461-points or +3.85% at its session peak – marking the biggest erased percentage gain since April 2020. Apple Inc (down -4.98%) extended its decline into a fourth straight session, with White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt saying that President Trump “absolutely” wants iPhones to be manufactured in the U.S. (the company currently assembles a large majority of its products in China). The Times of India reported that Apple transported five planes full of iPhones and other products from India to the US in just three-days during the final week of March to avoid a 10% reciprocal tariff that took effect on 5 April. Nike Inc (-4.21%) also fell over >4%. Nvidia Corp (fell -1.37%)