Weekly Market Bullets

for the week ending 5/2/2025

• US Equity Markets had another winning week last week amid rising hopes for easing trade tensions between the US and China and strong earnings reports from some major tech firm, notably Microsoft and Meta. The S&P 500 rose 2.9% for the week to bring its losses for the year to down 3.3%. The Nasdaq rallied 3.4% for the week and is now down 6.9% for the year, while the Russell 2000 (small cap stocks) increased 3.2% for the week to bring its losses for the year to down 9.4%.

• Global Equity Markets posted strong gains last week on signals of cooling trade tensions between the US and China. Developed Markets increased 3.0% for the week and are now up 11.5% for the year. Emerging Markets rose 3.3% for the week and are now up 5.4% for the year.

• US Employment and Inflation data came in better than expected. Payroll gains for April totaled 177K, much better than the 130K expected, while the Unemployment Rate held steady at a healthy 4.2%. The Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index for March rose 2.3% from last year, down from 2.7% in February and better than forecasts. The Core PCE Price Index, which excludes food and energy prices, rose 2.6% from a year ago, down from 3.0% in February.

• Earnings for Q1 2025 have been better than expected, but estimates for the full year 2025 are coming down. With 72% of the S&P 500 having reported their Q1 earnings results, 76% of firms have beaten earnings expectations, slightly higher than the 75% historical average. Earnings growth thus far has been 12.8% from a year ago, much better than the 7.2% expected. Despite that, forecasts for 2025 earnings growth have dropped to 9.9% from 11.3% a month ago as analysts adjust estimates amid concerns about tariff impacts.

Market Data

for the week ending 5/2/2025