US equities reverse course to close lower

Although US equities started the week on a stronger note, with early gains in the S&P 500 and Dow Jones, markets reversed course to close lower on Monday. At 18h38 SAST, the S&P 500 declined by 0.75% to close at 5 483.61, the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.13%, closing at 17 186.46 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.32%, decreasing by 129.42 points. Tech stocks led the downturn, with NVIDIA and Amazon both experiencing significant losses. Investors remain cautious. Tentative US-China tariff exemptions, despite no formal agreement, have also dented the dollar’s safe-haven appeal. Attention now turns to April’s jobs report, Q1 GDP, and the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge. 

European equities ended mixed on Monday. The Euro Stoxx 50 closed lower at 5 334.35, down 0.87%, while the Stoxx 600 rose by 0.40%. Germany’s DAX outperformed, gaining 0.74%. The FTSE ended the day 0.02% higher at 8 417.34. 

Asian markets also experienced mixed results. The Nikkei 225 increased by 0.38% (35 839.99), while the Hang Seng Index rose by 0.02% (21 985.91). In the meanwhile, the Bank of Thailand (BOT) is expected to reduce its key interest rate by 0.25 percentage points on Wednesday to help boost economic growth, as per a Reuters poll of economists. The poll suggests that US tariffs have dampened business sentiment. 

In South Africa the JSE was closed on Monday due to the public holiday. On 25 April, the rand traded at 18.68 to the dollar. 

Commodities declined on Friday, with gold closing at $3 319.24 per ounce. At 19:14 SAST, brent crude oil was down by 2.27% closing at $65.35 per barrel.