- Asian stocks drop, US and European futures decline on tariff whiplash
Asian shares fell on Friday and the dollar held losses as uncertainties around US President Donald Trump’s
tariffs whipsawed the markets. A regional stock gauge dipped 0.4%, led by shares in Japan. Equity-index futures
for the US and Europe extended their losses after The Wall Street Journal reported that the Trump
administration is considering a stopgap effort to impose tariffs on swaths of the global economy. The dollar
dropped less than 0.1% on Friday, following a 0.4% slide in the prior session. The yen rose marginally against
the greenback with Tokyo inflation rising the most in two years. Tariff headlines, and uncertainty about the
legal status of the levies, are once again dominating market moves prompting investors to reassess appetite to
buy risky assets. Adding to concerns, the US economy shrank at the start of the year, restrained by weaker
consumer spending and an even bigger impact from trade than initially reported. - S&P 500 climbs on strong Nvidia earnings, but trade policy confusion caps gains
The S&P 500 rose Thursday, led by Nvidia. But gains were restricted, with investors cautious following a salvo
of judicial developments surrounding President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs. The broad index ended the
day higher by 0.4% at 5,912.17 despite climbing as much as 0.9%. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.39% to
19,175.87, also well off its highest intraday gain of 1.5%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 117.03
points, or 0.28%, to finish at 42,215.73. - Oil prices set for weekly drop with tariff legal battles, OPEC+ in focus
Oil prices were on track to end the week down more than 1% on Friday amid whipsawing tariff rulings in the
U.S. and as the market braced for a potential OPEC+ output hike. Brent crude futures slipped 26 cents, or
0.41%, to $63.89 a barrel by 0104 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude fell 27 cents, or 0.44%, to $60.67
a barrel. The Brent July futures contract is due to expire on Friday. In the U.S., President Donald Trump’s tariffs
were to remain in effect after a federal appeals court temporarily reinstated them on Thursday, reversing a
trade court’s decision on Wednesday to put an immediate block on the most sweeping of the duties. The block
had sent oil prices falling more than 1% on Thursday as traders weighed its effects. Analysts said uncertainty
would remain as the tariff battles worked their way through the court system. Members of the Organization
of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, a group known as OPEC+, are expected to decide on
a July oil production hike when they meet on Saturday. At the same time, OPEC is trying to ensure that some
countries that have been producing above their agreed levels, such as Kazakhstan, cut their output. “The
standoff between OPEC and Kazakhstan became even more apparent this week,” Westpac’s head of
commodity and carbon research Robert Rennie said in a note. Kazakhstan has informed OPEC that it does not
intend to reduce its oil production, according to a Thursday report by Russia’s Interfax news agency citing
Kazakhstan’s deputy energy minister. Kazakhstan’s energy minister on Thursday dismissed complaints from
other members over Kazakhstan’s overproduction, saying that the country’s share in global production is less
than 2% and that an oil price above $70-$75 per barrel is likely to be suitable for all countries. - Gold slips as dollar ticks higher, US inflation report in focus
Gold prices fell on Friday amid a slight uptick in dollar, while investors awaited a key U.S. inflation report that
may provide further insight into the Federal Reserve’s policy trajectory. Spot gold was down 0.5% at $3,300.59
an ounce, as of 0313 GMT. Bullion is down 1.7% so far this week. U.S. gold futures fell 0.5% to $3,298.30.
The dollar index rose 0.2%, making gold more expensive for overseas buyers. “Gold prices are more or less
consolidating at this point of time… what we see is that these are normal market occurrences just at the range
now is slightly wider mainly due to the confidence in the U.S. dollar,” said Brian Lan, managing director
at GoldSilver Central, Singapore. Investors are awaiting the April U.S. personal consumption expenditures (PCE)
price index report, the Fed’s preferred inflation measure, which is due at 1230 GMT.According to a Reuters
poll, the U.S. PCE is expected to remain at 0.1% month-on-month, while the year-on-year figure is anticipated
to be at 2.2%. San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly said on Thursday that policymakers could still reduce
interest rates twice this year, but rates should remain steady for now to ensure inflation is on track to reach
the central bank’s 2% goal. Non-yielding bullion tends to benefit in low-interest-rate environments.
Meanwhile, a federal appeals court temporarily reinstated President Donald Trump’s most extensive tariffs on
Thursday, following a U.S. trade court’s ruling on Wednesday that Trump had overstepped his authority by
imposing these duties and subsequently ordered an immediate halt. U.S. trade talks with China are “a bit
stalled” and getting a deal over the finish line will likely need the direct involvement of Trump and Chinese
President Xi Jinping, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Thursday. Spot silver fell 0.8% to $33.07 an
ounce, platinum was steady at $1,081.93 and palladium dropped 0.3% to $970.43. - U.S.-China talks ‘a bit stalled’ and need Trump and Xi to weigh in, Treasury Secretary Bessent says
U.S.-China trade talks “are a bit stalled,” requiring the two countries’ leaders to speak directly, Treasury
Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News in an interview Thursday local time. “I believe that we will be having
more talks with them in the next few weeks,” he said, adding that there may be a call between the two
countries’ leaders “at some point.” After a rapid escalation in trade tensions last month, Bessent helped the
world’s two largest economies reach a breakthrough agreement in Switzerland on May 12. The countries
agreed to roll back recent tariff increases of more than 100% for 90 days, or until mid-August. Diplomatic
officials from both sides had a call late last week. Still, the U.S. has pushed ahead with tech restrictions on
Beijing, drawing its ire, while China has yet to significantly ease restrictions on rare earths, contrary to
Washington’s expectations. “I think that given the magnitude of the talks, given the complexity, that this is
going to require both leaders to weigh in with each other,” Bessent said. “They have a very good relationship
and I am confident that the Chinese will come to the table when President [Donald] Trump makes his
[preferences] known.” Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping last spoke in January, just before the U.S.
president was sworn in for his second term. While Trump has in recent weeks said he would like to speak with
Xi, analysts expect China to agree to that only if there’s certainty there will be no surprises from the U.S. during
the call. - US economy shrank at 0.2% rate in first quarter
US GDP shrank by an annualised 0.2 per cent in the first quarter, according to revised data that confirmed the
first contraction since 2022, as Donald Trump’s trade war ripples across the world’s biggest economy. The fall
in GDP compared with a 2.4 per cent expansion in the final quarter of 2024, and was largely caused by a surge
in imports as companies rushed to buy foreign-made goods before the US president’s “liberation day” tariff
announcement in early April. Thursday’s reading from the Bureau of Economic Analysis was revised slightly
higher from the 0.3 per cent contraction reflected in initial data released last month. But the change was not
enough to put the economy in positive territory for the period as consumer spending cooled. The statistics for
the first quarter were distorted by a surge in imports — driven by companies’ tariff fears — that were not offset
by a corresponding rise in inventory investment or purchases by consumers. While investment rose in the
revised statistics, that was largely counteracted by a fall in the rate of growth in consumer spending —
especially in services and housing — as Americans contend with higher prices and uncertainty stemming from
the trade war. “You are seeing consumers that have slowed consumption,” said Andrew Hollenhorst at Citi.
“That kind of aligns with what we’ve been hearing, especially from hotels and airlines, that services spending
has been slowing.” US consumer prices have risen more than 25 per cent since 2019, before the Covid-19
pandemic, which has weighed on consumer sentiment reports and prompted anxious shoppers to cut back. - Fed Chair Powell told Trump in Thursday meeting that rate decisions would be based on ‘non-political’
analysis
President Donald Trump met Thursday with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell amid the president badgering
the central bank for lower interest rates. The central bank confirmed in a release that the meeting occurred,
stressing that the future path of monetary policy was not discussed. “At the President’s invitation, Chair Powell
met with the President today at the White House to discuss economic developments including for growth,
employment, and inflation,” the Fed statement said. “Chair Powell did not discuss his expectations for
monetary policy, except to stress that the path of policy will depend entirely on incoming economic information
and what that means for the outlook.” Moreover, the release indicated that Powell and his Fed colleagues
remain committed to setting monetary policy on “careful, objective, and non-political analysis.” - Trump tariffs reinstated by appeals court for now
A federal appeals court granted the Trump administration’s request to temporarily pause a lower-court ruling
that struck down most of President Donald Trump’s tariffs. The administration had told the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the Federal Circuit that it might seek “emergency relief” from the Supreme Court. Trump officials
including Peter Navarro and Stephen Miller heaped criticism on the trade court judges following their ruling. - Dell shares climb after company raises full-year profit outlook on AI demand
Dell Technologies reported fiscal first-quarter earnings that missed Wall Street expectations, but the company
beat on revenue and offered a stronger-than-expected forecast for the current quarter. Dell said it expects
$2.25 in adjusted earnings per share for the current quarter, with between $28.5 billion and $29.5 billion in
revenue. That was significantly higher than LSEG expectations. Dell is one of Nvidia’s primary vendors that
builds systems around the chipmaker’s AI graphics processing units. Dell said on Thursday that it was seeing
“unprecedented demand” for AI systems. - ASML and other European chip stocks advance on Thursday after Nvidia gave a robust sales forecast
despite a loss of sales in China due to chip restrictions, a sign of continued strong demand for AI-related
applications
Nvidia sees fiscal 2Q revenue around $45b, roughly in-line with average analyst estimate, despite an expected
loss of $8b in China sales during the period. Nvidia’s 1Q sales of $44.1b topped sell-side estimate. Among chip
equipment makers in Europe, ASML +3.3%, ASMI +4.1%, BE Semiconductor +4.4%, Technoprobe +3.7%, Suss
MicroTec +5.4%; Among chipmakers, Infineon +3.8%, STMicro +4.3%. Wafer makers Soitec, Siltronic also gain.
Nvidia’s sales beat and in-line outlook are supportive of the European semiconductor sector, especially those
AI-exposed names such as ASML, ASMI and Infineon, says Citi analyst Andrew Gardiner. Says Nvidia’s
comments about end demand were bullish, with the company seeing increased reasoning demand and token
generation. Says investors currently lack conviction in the chip sector but Nvidia results should help provide
support. Nvidia’s 2Q guidance is in-line with high end of buyside expectations, and can be considered a strong
beat when adjusted for the lost China sales, Berenberg analysts say. Results show bullish inferencing demand
and increasing use of reasoning AI, showing the technology is going through exponential growth. - BP shares are gaining as much as 0.9% on Tradegate following reports that the oil giant’s Castrol lubricant
business is attracting interest from energy companies and buyout firms, with the business touted to fetch
between $8 billion and $10 billion in a deal. The stock may also be getting a boost as oil prices rise
Jefferies (hold, PT 390p) analyst Giacomo Romeo says the mid-point of the discussed valuation level is below
his sum-of-the-parts valuation of $10 billion, and the most bullish market expectations of $12bn-$13bn. The
divestment would represent good progress toward BP’s deleverage target, but leverage ratios would remain
well above sector levels. Divestment would also remove a resilient component of BP’s Ebitda in a weakening
oil market. - Dell Technologies Inc. gave a profit outlook for the year that exceeded estimates and said it had seen a
significant increase in orders for servers to run AI networks
Earnings, excluding some items, will be about $9.40 a share in the fiscal year ending in January 2026, an
increase from a February forecast, Texas-based Dell said Thursday in a statement. The company reiterated its
sales forecast of roughly $103 billion. Analysts, on average, projected profit of $9.21 a share on revenue of
$103 billion. In the quarter ended May 2, Dell reported sales gained 5% to $23.4 billion, compared with the
average estimate of $23.1 billion. Profit, excluding some items, was $1.55 a share. Analysts, on average,
projected $1.69. “We generated $12.1 billion in AI orders this quarter alone, surpassing the entirety of
shipments in all of FY25 and leaving us with $14.4 billion in backlog,” Chief Operating Officer Jeff Clarke said in
the statement. Dell has benefited from demand for its high-powered servers to run AI systems, which are used
by customers such as Elon Musk’s xAI and CoreWeave Inc. in their data centers. The company expects
profitability to improve in its computer and servers-and-storage businesses. Additionally Dell accelerated share
repurchases, which has the impact of boosting profit on a per share basis. The US Department of Energy
also announced Thursday that it has contracted with Dell and Nvidia Corp. to build a new flagship
supercomputer for the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center. The computer, at Lawrence
Berkeley National Laboratory, is planned to take on tasks like fusion research, as well as discoveries in materials
design, biomolecular modeling and fundamental physics, the Energy department said in a statement. - Salesforce shares fall as much as 7.8% on Thursday, their biggest intraday fall since May 2024, even as
the software company reported first-quarter results that beat expectations and gave an outlook that is seen
as positive. RBC Capital Markets downgraded the firm to sector perform from outperform, flagging
“execution risk” in the company’s planned acquisition of Informatica
2026 YEAR FORECAST: Sees revenue $41.0 billion to $41.3 billion, saw $40.5 billion to $40.9 billion, estimate
$40.82 billion (Bloomberg Consensus); Sees adjusted EPS $11.27 to $11.33, saw $11.09 to $11.17, estimate
$11.16.Still sees adjusted operating margin 34%.
SECOND QUARTER FORECAST: Sees revenue $10.11 billion to $10.16 billion, estimate $10.02 billion; Sees
adjusted EPS $2.76 to $2.78, estimate $2.74. FIRST QUARTER RESULTS: Adjusted EPS $2.58 vs. $2.44 y/y;
Revenue $9.83 billion, +7.6% y/y, estimate $9.75 billion; Change in revenue on constant currency basis +8%,
estimate +7.28%; Subscription and support revenue $9.30 billion, +8.3% y/y, estimate $9.22 billion; Sales $2.13
billion, +6.7% y/y, estimate $2.16 billion; Service revenue $2.33 billion, +7% y/y, estimate $2.35 billion;
Professional services and other revenue $532 million, -2.9% y/y, estimate $530.4 million; Unearned revenue,
end of period $17.80 billion, +11% y/y, estimate $17.65 billion; Adj. income from operations $3.17 billion,
+8.3% y/y, estimate $3.18 billion; Adjusted operating margin 32.3% vs. 32.1% y/y, estimate 32.6%; Remaining
performance obligations $60.9 billion, +13% y/y, estimate $59.92 billion; Current remaining performance
obligation $29.6 billion, +12% y/y, estimate $29.05 billion; Noncurrent Remaining Performance Obligation
$31.3 billion, estimate $30.8 billion; Subscription & Support revenue in constant currency +9%, estimate
+7.65%; Subs & Support Sales revenue in constant currency +7%, estimate +8.16%; Subs & Support Service
revenue in constant currency +7%, estimate +9.32%; Platform & Other revenue in constant currency +14%,
estimate +8.46%; Marketing & Commerce revenue in constant currency +4%, estimate +7.62%; Integration &
Analytics revenue in constant currency +10%, estimate +7.47%; Free cash flow $6.30 billion, +3.5% y/y,
estimate $5.89 billion. No Impact to Fy26 Guidance on Informatica Deal; Now Expects A Currency Tailwind;
Salesforce:Currency Tailwind Incorporated Into Updated Guidance; Incorporated Currency Tailwind Into Fy26
Guidance; “We delivered strong Q1 results and are raising our guidance by $400 million to $41.3 billion at the
high end of the range,” said Marc Benioff, Chair and CEO, Salesforce. Initiates second quarter FY26 revenue
guidance of $10.11 billion to $10.16 billion, up 8% – 9% Y/Y and 7% – 8% in CC; Maintains full year FY26 operating
cash flow growth guidance of approximately 10% to 11% Y/Y; Maintains full year FY26 GAAP operating margin
guidance of 21.6%, and non-GAAP operating margin guidance of 34.0%. - Estée Lauder names new President for Makeup Brand Cluster
The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE: EL), currently valued at $23.8 billion, has announced the appointment
of Lisa Sequino as the new President of its Makeup Brand Cluster, effective June 9, 2025. According
to InvestingPro data, the company maintains impressive gross profit margins of 74%, despite facing recent
challenges with a -44% one-year return. In her new role, Sequino will oversee the strategic direction and global
growth of the company’s makeup portfolio, which includes M·A·C, Bobbi Brown, Too Faced, Smashbox, and
GLAMGLOW. Having previously held senior positions within Estée Lauder, Sequino brings over two decades of
experience in the beauty industry back to the company. Her tenure includes roles as Senior Vice President and
General Manager for Estée Lauder – North America and Senior Vice President, Brands – North America. Sequino
has also served as CEO of JLo Beauty and Supergoop!, where she expanded the brand’s global presence and
launched innovative products. Her appointment comes at a crucial time, as InvestingPro analysis shows 18
analysts have revised their earnings expectations downward for the upcoming period. Jane Hertzmark Hudis,
Executive Vice President and Chief Brand Officer, expressed confidence in Sequino’s leadership, citing her
strong track record and strategic thinking as key to driving the makeup cluster’s growth. Sequino’s
responsibilities will include accelerating innovation, enhancing consumer recruitment, and ensuring local
relevance across the makeup brands. Sequino expressed her enthusiasm for the opportunity to drive growth
and innovation in the makeup category, emphasizing the potential to reach new consumers globally. She plans
to focus on trend acceleration, digital and social media strategies, and local market relevance to engage with
today’s makeup consumers.
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