United News of Bangladesh

Big Tech stocks led Wall Street to a positive finish on Friday, capping off a turbulent week marked by market swings tied to President Donald Trump’s ongoing trade war. The S&P 500 climbed 0.7%, extending a strong three-day rally and pulling within 10.1% of its all-time high from earlier in the year. Strong gains from Nvidia and other major tech names helped the Nasdaq composite outperform with a 1.3% jump. However, the upbeat performance in tech masked a more uneven day overall—more stocks in the S&P 500 declined than advanced. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average posted a modest gain of just 20 points, or 0.1%. Alphabet climbed 1.7% in its first trading after Google’s parent company reported late Thursday that its profit soared 50% in the beginning of 2025 from a year earlier, more than analysts expected. Alphabet is one of the biggest companies on Wall Street in terms of size, and that gives its stock’s movements extra influence on the S&P 500 and other indexes. Another market heavyweight, Nvidia, was also a major force pushing the S&P 500 index upward after the chip company rose 4.3%. They helped offset a 6.7% drop for Intel, which fell even though its results for the beginning of the year also topped expectations. The chip company said it’s seeing “elevated uncertainty across the industry” and gave a forecast for upcoming revenue and profit that fell short of analysts’ expectations. It wasn’t just Intel. Roughly three out of every five stocks in the S&P 500 sank, including Eastman Chemical, which dropped 6.2% after it gave a forecast for profit this spring that fell short of analysts’ expectations. CEO Mark Costa said that the “macroeconomic uncertainty that defined the last several years has only increased” and that future demand for its products “is unclear given the magnitude and scope of tariffs.” Asian shares soar after Wall Street rallies into a 3rd day Skechers U.S.A., the shoe and apparel company, pulled its financial forecasts for the year due to “macroeconomic uncertainty stemming from global trade policies” even though it just reported a record quarter of revenue at $2.41 billion. Its stock fell 5.3%. Companies across industries have increasingly been saying the uncertainty created by Trump’s tariffs is making it difficult to give financial forecasts for the upcoming year. Stocks bounced back from a steep slide on Monday on hopes that Trump may be softening his approach on trade and his criticism of the Federal Reserve, which had earlier shaken markets. The hope is that if Trump rolls back some of his stiff tariffs, he could avert a recession that many investors see as otherwise likely because of his trade war. But Trump’s on-again-off-again tariffs may nevertheless be pushing households and businesses to alter their spending and freeze plans for long-term investment because of how quickly conditions can change, sometimes seemingly by the hour. “Business owners scrambling to figure out their supply chains and exposure to tariffs is more than just a distraction,” according to Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management. “It could be an existential threat, especially for smaller businesses that don’t have the scale or resources to have the same supply chain flexibility as larger firms.” All told, the S&P 500 rose 40.44 points to 5,525.21. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 20.10 to 40,113.50, and the Nasdaq composite jumped 216.90 to 17,382.94. In stock markets abroad, indexes rose modestly across much of Europe following more mixed movements in Asia. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 jumped 1.9%, but stocks in Shanghai slipped 0.1%. In the bond market, Treasury yields eased some more, and the yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.25% from 4.32% late Thursday. It’s been generally falling since approaching 4.50% earlier this month in a surprising rise that suggested investors worldwide may have been losing faith in the U.S. bond market’s reputation as a safe place to park cash. Yields have dropped as several reports on the U.S. economy have come in weaker than expected, bolstering expectations that the Federal Reserve may cut interest rates later this year to support growth. A report on Friday morning said sentiment among U.S. consumers sank in April, though not by as much as economists expected. The survey from the University of Michigan said its measure of expectations for coming conditions has dropped 32% since January for the steepest three-month percentage decline seen since the 1990 recession. The value of the U.S. dollar meanwhile held steady against the euro and other rival currencies. It’s been recovering some of its sharp, unexpected losses from earlier this month that had rattled investors.      

Asian markets showed mixed performance on Tuesday, reflecting Wall Street's uneven results, where gains in oil-and-gas producers balanced declines in Nvidia and other Big Tech stocks, reports AP. Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped 1.8% to 38,469.58 after reopening following a Monday holiday. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.4% to 8,220.50, South Korea’s Kospi edged down 0.1% to 2,489.33, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1.5% to 19,163.92, and China’s Shanghai Composite jumped 2.2% to 3,229.99. Asian shares decline amid concerns over rate cuts and tariffs “Japan’s markets are catching up after last week’s sell-off,” said Yeap Jun Rong, market strategist at IG. Japan’s Finance Ministry reported a 54.5% year-on-year increase in the country’s current account for November, reaching 3.4 trillion yen ($21 billion). On Wall Street, the S&P 500 rose 0.2% after recovering from an earlier 0.9% drop. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.9%, while the Nasdaq composite fell 0.4%, weighed down by Big Tech. Recent pressure on stocks stems from concerns about the Federal Reserve’s potential rate cuts this year. While lower rates would boost the economy, inflation above the Fed’s 2% target and signs of a resilient U.S. economy have cast doubt on whether any rate cuts will occur in 2025. High rates have been pushing down prices of investments, especially those deemed overvalued. Nvidia, which had nearly quintupled in value over three years due to AI enthusiasm, fell 2%, the biggest drag on the S&P 500. Apple slipped 1%, and Meta Platforms lost 1.2%, further weighing on the index. Moderna plunged 16.8% after forecasting lower-than-expected 2025 revenue and accelerating cost-cutting efforts. Macy’s dropped 8.1% on weaker-than-expected revenue projections, and Edison International lost 11.9% amid ongoing Southern California wildfires. Fire officials are investigating whether the utility’s equipment caused the Hurst fire. Oil-and-gas companies rose as crude prices climbed. Benchmark U.S. crude gained 2.9% to $78.82 per barrel on Monday, while Brent crude rose 1.6% to $81.01. Exxon Mobil increased 2.6%, and Valero Energy surged 4.9%. Early Tuesday, U.S. crude fell 37 cents to $78.45 per barrel, and Brent crude dropped 43 cents to $80.58. Stock market today: Asian shares advance though China economic data weaker than expected U.S. Steel rose 6.1% after the Biden administration extended the deadline for its acquisition by Japan’s Nippon Steel to June. Intra-Cellular Therapies soared 34.1% after Johnson & Johnson announced plans to acquire it for $132 per share. Johnson & Johnson rose 1.7%. The S&P 500 closed at 5,836.22, up 9.18 points. The Dow added 358.67 points to 42,297.12, while the Nasdaq fell 73.53 points to 19,088.10. Treasury yields continued their upward trend, with the 10-year yield rising to 4.78% from 4.76% on Friday, after being below 3.65% in September. Rising yields could pressure stock prices unless companies deliver higher profit growth. In currency markets, the U.S. dollar strengthened to 157.70 Japanese yen from 157.26 yen, while the euro declined to $1.0255 from $1.0274.

Hours after an angry mob of Trump supporters took control of the U.S. Capitol in a violent insurrection, Selena Gomez laid much of the blame at the feet of Big Tech.