The U.S. stock markets showed mixed reactions due to geopolitical tensions and inflation data. The Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge, the April PCE price index, met expectations. However, tensions rose as former President Trump accused China of violating a preliminary trade agreement.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average experienced fluctuations, declining by 309 points at its lowest before closing up 54 points, a 0.1% increase, at 42,270. The Nasdaq fell 62 points, or 0.3%, to 19,113, while the S&P 500 closed nearly flat at 5,911. For the month, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq posted impressive gains of 6.2% and 9.6% respectively, marking their best monthly performance since November 2023. The Dow rose 3.9% during the same period.
In terms of individual stocks, tech performances were mixed. NVIDIA (NVDA) dropped 2.9%, Tesla (TSLA) fell 3.3%, Amazon (AMZN) slightly decreased by 0.3%, while Meta (META) and Apple (AAPL, Financial) increased by about 0.4% each. Among earnings reports, Gap (GPS) suffered a 20.2% decline due to tariff concerns, American Eagle (AEO) decreased 2% due to weak earnings, and Costco (COST) rose 3.1% following strong sales growth.
