Weekly Market Update – April 14, 2025

Price Return Last Week

S&P 500 +5.7% S&P Mid Cap +2.8% Russell 2000 +1.8%

MSCI EAFE +0.7% MSCI EM (3.9%)

10 Yr US Treasury Rate – rose from 3.99% to 4.49%

Source: Refinitiv Eikon

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Recent News

Tariffs Paused – President Trump authorized a 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs for all countries except China.  However, the 10% baseline tariff rate on imports will remain in effect.  Mexico and Canada are the only countries currently exempt from the baseline tariff rate.  The S&P 500 rose over 9% on the day of the announcement for the 3rd largest one-day gain since WWII.

Source: The Wall Street Journal, Refinitiv Eikon, CNBC.com

China Retaliates – China announced new tariffs on U.S. goods following the latest tariff increase from the United States.  In retaliation, the total tariff on U.S. goods will increase to 125% and went into effect over the weekend.  Given that most American imports are no longer economically viable, China stated that they will disregard additional levies.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Electronic Tariffs Paused – President Trump exempted smartphones, computers, memory chips, and other electronics from reciprocal tariffs late on Friday.  However, all items will still be subject to the 20% tariff rate that Trump imposed on China several weeks ago.  Smartphones were the top import from China in 2024, totaling $42 billion.

Source: Thomson Reuters

EU Retaliates – The European Union approved additional tariffs on approximately $23 billion of American goods, matching the value of tariffs that the U.S. implemented on steel and aluminum imports from Europe.  The European Commission noted that the tariffs can be suspended at any time, should an agreement be reached.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Core CPI – Mar: 0.1% (Reuters Poll est. 0.3%) Feb: 0.2%

Inflation came in lower than expected with declines in prices on airline fares helping keep costs low.  For the second consecutive month, airline fares fell 4%.  Lodging away from home also fell significantly, down 3.5% compared to February.  The shelter index rose 0.2% over the last month and 4.0% over the last year.  This is the smallest annual increase in the shelter index since 2021.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Consumer Sentiment – Apr: 50.8 (Reuters Poll est. 54.5) Mar: 57.0

Consumer sentiment dipped for the fourth consecutive month, falling 11% versus the previous month.  The drop occurred across all political affiliations, education, geographic, age, and income groups.  Estimates for inflation of those surveyed rose to 6.7%, the highest level since 1981.

Source: The University of Michigan

A Revolution Begins – An unknown shot rang out 250 years ago on April 19 in the Province of Massachusetts to kick off the Battles of Lexington and Concord and starting the American Revolution.  Once the battles had concluded, roughly 250 British soldiers had been killed or wounded compared to only 90 colonists, giving hope to American soldiers that they could stand up to the British Army.  Strangely enough, it would be on the same day 86 years later where the first soldiers in the Civil War would be killed.

Source: History.com

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Upcoming Events

4/14 – Notable Earnings Reports: Goldman Sachs

4/15 – Notable Earnings Reports: Citigroup, Johnson & Johnson, Bank of America

4/16 – Retail Sales, Notable Earnings Reports: Abbott

4/17 – Notable Earnings Reports: American Express, Blackstone, D.R. Horton, Charles Schwab, UnitedHealth Group, Netflix

Source: Refinitiv Eikon