Source : THE AGE NEWS
By Stan Choe
Most US stocks are rising on Tuesday following an encouraging report that showed inflation unexpectedly slowed across the country last month.
The S&P 500 was up 0.9 per cent in afternoon trading, coming off a big gain to start the week after the United States and China announced a 90-day pause in their trade war to allow for negotiations. The Dow Jones was down 160 points, or 0.4 per cent, and the Nasdaq composite was 1.7 per cent higher as AI and other tech stocks led the way.
Wall Street’s benchmark index jumped.Credit: Bloomberg
The Australian sharemarket is set to advance, with futures at 4.50am AEST pointing to a gain of 21 points, or 0.3 per cent, at the open. The ASX added 0.4 per cent on Tuesday in its first session since the US and China announced a truce in their trade war.
Stocks have been roaring back since the S&P 500 fell nearly 20 per cent below its record last month on hopes that President Donald Trump will ease his stiff tariffs on trading partners worldwide before they create a recession and send inflation spiking higher. The S&P 500, which sits at the centre of many 401(k) accounts, is back within 4 per cent of its all-time high set in February and has erased its losses for the year so far.
Tuesday’s report said that even with all the uncertainty around trade, and even with many businesses rushing to import products from other countries before tariffs raise their prices, inflation slowed to 2.3 per cent last month from 2.4 per cent in March.
It’s encouraging because such data pulls the economy further from a worst-case scenario called “stagflation,” one where the economy stagnates but inflation remains high. The Federal Reserve has no good tools to fix the toxic combination. It could try to lower rates to help the economy, for example, but that would likely lead to worse inflation in the short term.
Even with Tuesday’s encouraging report, though, economists and analysts say inflation may still run higher in coming months because of Trump’s tariffs. That will likely leave the Fed waiting for more data to guide their decision on whether and when to cut interest rates in order to help the economy.
It’s similar to the wait that investors in general are enduring. With the Fed set to make no moves on interest rates for the time being, markets will likely trade “with negotiation and reconciliation headlines,” according to Alexandra Wilson-Elizondo, global cohead and co-chief investment officer of multi-asset solutions within Goldman Sachs Asset Management.
“I think investors are aware that the trade deal is not done yet,” said Louis Wong, director for Phillip Securities Group in Hong Kong.
“I would advise investors to remain cautious in the near term and to be prepared for unexpected news from the trade front,” he added.
On Wall Street, Coinbase Global jumped 22.4 per cent after the cryptocurrency exchange learned its stock will join the widely followed S&P 500 index next week. That means many investment funds will likewise add it before trading begins on Monday. Coinbase will replace Discover Financial Services, which is getting bought by Capital One Financial.
Stocks in the artificial-intelligence industry were also strong as it was announced Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices will supply semiconductors to Saudi Arabian artificial intelligence company Humain for a massive data centre project, acting under a Trump administration initiative that lifts restrictions on delivering advanced technology to the region. Nvidia rose 5.7 per cent and was the biggest single force lifting the S&P 500. AMD shares jumped by 4.3 per cent.
Nvidia chief executive officer Jensen Huang announced the partnership on stage at the Saudi-US Investment Forum in Riyadh, the Gulf nation’s capital. The announcement came alongside US President Donald Trump’s visit to the country.
Super Micro Computer, which builds servers used in AI, jumped 15.3 per cent, and GE Vernova, which is hoping to power vast AI data centres, rose 5.8 per cent. Palantir Technologies gained 9 per cent.
Microsoft began laying off nearly 3 per cent of its entire workforce Tuesday, its largest mass layoff in more than two years.
The tech giant didn’t disclose the total amount of lost jobs but it will amount to about 6,000 people. That includes 1,985 workers in its home state of Washington, according to a notice it sent to the state workforce agency Tuesday. Microsoft shares slid by 0.1 per cent.
UnitedHealth Group shares tumbled 16.5 per cent after it suspended its full-year financial forecast due to higher-than-expected medical costs. The nation’s largest health insurer also announced that CEO Andrew Witty was stepping down for personal reasons and that Chairman Stephen Hemsley will become CEO, effective immediately.
UnitedHealth was the main reason the Dow was lagging behind other US stock indexes.
In the bond market, Treasury yields were ticking higher with hopes for the US economy. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.50 per cent from 4.45 per cent late Monday.
The two-year Treasury yield, which moves more closely with expectations for Fed action, ticked up to 4.01 per cent from 3.98 per cent.
In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed across Europe and Asia. Stocks fell 1.9 per cent in Shanghai but rose 1.4 per cent in Tokyo.
Automakers were among the big gainers in Japan. Nissan added 3 per cent ahead of an announcement that it plans to lay off 20,000 of its workers as part of its restructuring efforts. The automaker said Tuesday that it racked up a loss of 670.9 billion yen ($7 billion) in the last fiscal year.
