The focus today was on the big-cap tech stocks today. The Nasdaq index got creamed with a decline of -2.05%. That was the largest decline since January 31 when the index fell -2.23% The move lower was initially off of disappointing forward guidance from Netflix after its earning announcement after the close on Thursdays. Its shares tumbled -9.09%.

The kick to the downside got another shove, just before the open Super Micro Computers announced its earnings date, but did not to pre-announce its earnings for the fiscal third quarter. SMCI has been one of the darlings of the 1Q as it tagged along with Nvidia. According to sources, in seven of the past eight quarters, the company issued a press release announcing preliminary results ahead of its routine earnings release, generally raising financial guidance. That was not to be today, and the stock fell sharply in reaction. That momentum continued in the US session with the stock plunging 23.16% to $713.65. The high price in the 1Q reached $1229.00. The decline. Nvidia as well. It shares fell $84.31 or -10.0% to $762.

BTW Super Micro Computers will announce their earnings on April 30. Nvidia doesn't announce until May 22

Other big movers today included a number of different chip stocks:

  • AMD, - 5.44%.
  • Micro -4.61%
  • Broadcom -4.31%
  • Meta Platforms -4.13%
  • CrowdStrike holdings -3.99%
  • Taiwan semiconductor -3.46%
  • Amazon -2.56%
  • Intel -2.40%
  • Qualcomm -2.36%
  • Tesla, -1.92%.

Next week, the earnings calendar kicks into full gear Below is a sampling of some of the major earnings releases. :

  • Monday: Verizon,SAP
  • Tuesday: GM, Tesla,Visa, Texas Instruments
  • Wednesday: Boeing, AT&T, General Dynamics, Meta Platforms, IBM, Ford, Chipotle, ServiceNow
  • Thursday: American Airlines, Caterpillar,Southwest Airlines, Bristol-Myers Squibb,Microsoft, Alphabet,Intel
  • Friday: Exxon Mobil, Chevron

In the US debt market today, yields move modestly lower.

  • 2-year yield, 4.99%, unchanged
  • 5-year yield 4.671%, -1.6 basis points
  • 10-year yield 4.622%, -2.4 basis points
  • 30-year yield 4.715% -2.9 basis points

For the trading week yields moved higher as markets reacted to the Fed's shift toward rates steady for longer:

  • 2-year yield +8.7 basis points
  • 5-year yield +11.4 basis points
  • 10-year yield +9.7 basis points
  • 30-year yield +8.3 basis points

A snapshot of the forex market at the week's end has the CHF as the strongest of the major currencies on the back of a safety bid.

forex

The GBP was the weakest. BOEs Ramsden commented that:

  • Over the last few months, I have become more confident in the evidence that risks to persistence and domestic inflation pressures are receding.
  • Balance of domestic risks to the outlook for UK inflation is now tilted to the downside.

That helped to push the GBPUSD to the downside and the pair moved to the lowest level for the year and going back to November 14. The price is also testing the 61.8% of the move higher from the October 2023 low at 1.23635, and the high of a swing area going back to first quarter of 2023 at 1.2368. The low price today in the GBPUSD reached 1.2366.

Fed's Goolsbee closed up the Fedspeak ahead of the quiet period (the Fed is to next announce on May 1). Goolsbee discussed the current state of the U.S. economy, highlighting a stall in progress on inflation and advocating for a cautious approach to interest rates until more clarity is achieved. He affirmed that the Federal Reserve's current restrictive monetary policy remains appropriate but emphasized that future policy adjustments will be data-driven. Goolsbee pointed out the persistent challenge posed by high housing inflation and noted that there is room for improvement in services inflation through increases in labor supply. He questioned whether strong GDP and job numbers might indicate an overheating economy contributing to inflationary pressures, though he also acknowledged that not all data suggest labor market overheating. While the Fed has successfully maintained low unemployment, it has struggled to meet its inflation mandate. Goolsbee warned against maintaining a high level of restrictiveness for too long due to potential negative impacts on employment. He described the policy trade-offs as increasingly complex and noted that the real Federal Funds rate is historically high. Optimistically, he projected that inflation would return to the 2% target over a reasonable period, and he did not dismiss any policy options, including rate hikes if necessary, to manage economic conditions.

Meanwhile, ECB officials today including Lagarge. Muller and Wunsch advocating for multiple rate cuts starting in June.

The US core PCE data will be released on Friday and will be key for the Fed outlook going forward.