Most international indices notched overall gains last week as investors regained some confidence in the market. Wall Street and Europe ended higher, buoyed by upbeat earnings.
US investors focused on upbeat earnings last week, with 73% of the 179 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported earnings so far beating expectations. Alphabet added +1.7% after it posted a +28% jump in Google Cloud revenue. Intel tanked -6.7% after providing weak revenue and profit forecasts. Charter Communications leapt +11.4% after the broadband and cable provider produced a revenue beat and gained more subscribers than expected. The three key benchmarks were all in the green on Friday. The DOW added +0.1%, the S&P 500 gained +0.7%, and the NASDAQ took on +1.3%. In rates markets, the US two-year Treasury yield fell -4 bps to 3.76%, while the 10-year counterpart fell -5 bps to 4.26%.
European and British earnings lifted the Stoxx 600 to a fourth consecutive gain and the FTSE 100 to a tenth consecutive gain, despite global uncertainty. Sentiment was also buoyed by optimism around a de-escalated trade war between the US and China. The pan-European Stoxx 600 climbed +0.4%, while London’s FTSE 100 gained +0.1%.
The ASX 200 gained +0.6% as investors grew hopeful for a slowing trade war between the US, China and other major partners. The benchmark regained +1.9% over the three-day week, trimming its 2025 losses to -2.3%. The natural gas majors suffered from speculation that OPEC+ will lift production in June, following an already-announced increase in May. Woodside Energy lost -2.0%, its weakness aggravated by analyst concerns over the Louisiana LNG project. In results, ResMed leapt +8.5% after the sleep apnoea equipment supplier produced March-quarter gross margins ahead of expectations, driven by an improved product mix and manufacturing efficiencies. Newmont increased +3.5% after the world’s largest gold miner delivered March-quarter earnings ahead of expectations. Paladin Energy skyrocketed +12.1% after three brokers raised their target prices on the uranium miner. Its March-quarter production remained afloat despite market expectations of a decrease due to recent wet weather. The NZX 50 added +0.5%. A modest trading day in Asia saw China’s Shanghai Composite fall -0.1% and the CSI 300 add +0.1%, while the rest of the major benchmarks were comfortably in the green. The Nikkei 225 jumped +1.9%, Korea’s Kospi gained +1.0%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added +0.3%.
WTI Crude increased +0.4% to US$63.02/bbl, Iron Ore fell -0.2% to US$99.92/MT, Gold also lost -0.9% to US$3,318.20/oz.