On Friday, U.S. stocks closed higher with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq recording their largest weekly gains since November.  

The surge in tech stocks continued, driven by strong earnings from Alphabet and Microsoft, amidst ongoing enthusiasm for artificial intelligence.  

U.S. core PCE for March rose by 2.8%, higher than expected, indicating persistent inflationary pressures. 

Google’s parent company, Alphabet, saw its shares jump by about 10% after announcing better-than-expected first-quarter profits. The company also declared its first-ever dividend and approved a $70 billion stock buyback plan. 

Edward Jones’ Senior Investment Strategist Mona Mahajan commented, “The U.S. stock market had a turbulent start to the week but finished strong. It’s great to see many stocks rising. Clearly, one driving factor is the stellar financial reports from major tech firms.” 

U.S. Stocks

Fundamental Analysis: 

Large tech stocks generally rose. Alphabet’s Class A shares surged over 10%, reaching a new historical high. Amazon was up more than 3%, Microsoft nearly 2%, and Meta also gained. Tesla, however, fell more than 1%, with Netflix and Apple slightly down.  

In the semiconductor sector, Advanced Micro Devices soared nearly 9%, Nvidia over 6%, and Arm over 4%, while Intel dropped more than 9%, and STMicroelectronics nearly 3%. 

Chinese concept stocks mostly rose, with the Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index up 2.45%.  

XPeng Motors surged over 10%, Nio over 8%, and both Li Auto and JD.com over 6%. Futu Holdings advanced over 5%, while Bilibili, New Oriental, and Weibo each rose over 4%.  

iQIYI and Pinduoduo were up over 3%, with NetEase and Tencent Music gaining over 1%. Baidu and Alibaba saw slight increases, while NetEase Youdao experienced a minor drop. 

Technical Analysis: 

(S&P 500 Index, 1-day chart) 

Market Trends: 

• Nasdaq rose by 316.14 points, a gain of 2.03%, closing at 15,927.90. 
• Dow increased by 153.86 points, up 0.40%, to 38,239.66. 
• S&P 500 advanced by 51.54 points, or 1.02%, to 5,099.96. 

Hong Kong Stock Market

Fundamental Analysis: 

Hong Kong’s three major indices saw a collective surge. 

In the tech sector, performances varied with NetEase and JD.com rising over 2%, while Meituan fell nearly 3%.  

Pharmaceutical outsourcing stocks led the gains, with GenScript Biotech climbing over 8%.  

AIA Group spearheaded the insurance sector, setting a new quarterly record for new business value.  

The “trade-in” scheme boosted auto stocks, with Leapmotor surging nearly 8%.  

Conversely, gold stocks moved against the trend, with China Gold International dropping nearly 5%, and sectors like copper, oil, and coal also declined. 

The “trade-in” initiative notably lifted the performance of automotive stocks, with Leapmotor achieving an almost 8% increase.  

On the news front, on the evening of April 26, multiple departments including the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Finance jointly issued the “Detailed Rules for Subsidies for Automobile Trade-ins.”  

Before December 31 of this year, consumers who scrap vehicles meeting National Standard III or below, or those who registered new energy vehicles before April 30, 2018, and purchase a new energy vehicle or a gasoline vehicle with a displacement of 2.0 liters or below, will receive subsidies of RMB 7,000 and RMB 10,000, respectively. 

Technical Analysis: 

(Hang Seng Index, 1-day chart) 

Market Trends: 

• Hang Seng Index (HSI) up 1.29%, to 17,878.13. 
• Hang Seng Tech Index (HSTECH) up 0.81%, to 3,748.31. 
• Hang Seng China Enterprises Index (HSCEI.) up 0.90%, to 6,326.49. 

FTSE China A50 Index

Fundamental Analysis: 

The major A-share indices collectively rose, with the ChiNext Index nearly up 4%.  

The real estate development sector led with widespread gains, including Vanke A among 18 stocks hitting the upper limit.  

Leading sectors included real estate services, auto dismantling, wind power equipment, automotive services, batteries, digital watermarking, energy metals, and electronic chemicals.  

Conversely, precious metals, airports, explosives, and transportation sectors underperformed, trending downward. 

Technical Analysis:  

(SSE Composite Index, 1-day chart) 

Market Trends: 

• Shanghai Composite Index (SHCOMP) up 0.80%, to 3,113.29. 
• Shenzhen Component Index (SZCOMP) up 2.18%, to 9,669.90. 
• ChiNext Index (CHINEXT) up 3.60%, to 1,889.45. 
• SSE Sci-Tech Innovation 50 Index up 3.09%, to 775.50. 

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