Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during morning trading on April 22, 2025 in New York City.
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The S&P 500 was little changed Monday ahead of a packed week for earnings and economic data. Wall Street is also awaiting any progress on trade deal negotiations.
The broad market index, along with the Nasdaq Composite, hovered around the flatline. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 161 points, or 0.4%.
On Monday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent offered little clarity on the direction of reaching a possible trade agreement with China, but said that the onus was not on the United States. On the positive side, however, Bessent said that they were making progress on other trade proposals, suggesting a deal with India would be “one of the first” to come.
“I believe that it’s up to China to de-escalate, because they sell five times more to us than we sell to them, and so these 120%, 145% tariffs are unsustainable,” Bessent said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
His comments come after President Donald Trump said last week that discussions with China were underway, refuting China’s claims of no trade talks between the two countries.
“Recent days have brought indications of some easing in U.S.-China trade tensions, with both sides chipping away at the unsustainable tariff rates implemented earlier this month and the US signaling some intent to deescalate,” wrote Barclays economist Jonathan Millar in a recent note. “This is mostly talk, for now, and we remain skeptical that there will be enough concrete momentum in trade discussions to sidestep a U.S. recession.”
Investors are also looking ahead to the busiest period of the first-quarter earnings season, which will see more than 180 S&P 500 companies report results. Four of the ‘Magnificent Seven’ companies— Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms and Microsoft — will release their quarterly reports, as will financial, staples and health care stocks Visa, Coca-Cola, and Eli Lilly.
Earnings results have been somewhat strong for the prior quarter, with 73% of companies reporting beating analysts’ estimates so far — slightly below the 5-year average of 77%, according to FactSet data. Still, Wall Street is lowering expectations for the second quarter and the full year as companies come out with uncertain guidance because of President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
This week will mark the end of April, which has seen stocks whipsaw across a wide trading range after Trump unveiled his sweeping tariff plans and then later walked some of the stiffer duties back.
So far in April, the S&P 500 is down by more than 1%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average is on track to lose nearly 4%. The Nasdaq Composite is up almost 1%. The S&P 500 briefly entered a bear market on April 7 and has made a recovery since, but the index has failed to break through key resistance levels.
The week also will see multiple reports on the labor market as well as key data on inflation and economic growth. Topping the list will be Friday’s nonfarm payrolls release, while first-quarter gross domestic product and the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge will be out Wednesday.
