Breakfast | Tesla and Alphabet - C earnings reports are coming this week! Trump "may want to lower tariffs"

Market Overview

Last Friday, Hong Kong and US stocks were closed. Today, the Hong Kong stock market continues to be closed.

On Monday, in the early Asia-Pacific session, US index futures fell across the board, and the US dollar index fell below the 99.00 mark for the first time since April 2022.

Key Focus This Week

Tesla and Alphabet earnings reports!

Over the past two years, Tesla and Alphabet's stock prices have surged, but since March, affected by uncertainties in tariff policies, Tesla's stock price has retraced by 17%, and Alphabet has not been spared, with a decline of 11%. Investors are eagerly looking forward to the upcoming earnings reports to explore management's evaluation of the supply chain restructuring process and cost transfer capabilities.

Meanwhile, industry giants such as Boeing, IBM, Merck, Intel, and Procter & Gamble will also release their latest earnings reports.

In terms of data, the People's Bank of China will announce the 1/5-year LPR, while the US, Eurozone, and UK will simultaneously release the preliminary values of the April manufacturing and services PMI, reflecting the first wave of impact from Trump's tariffs.

Report: Trump hints he does not want to continue raising tariffs on China, "I might want to lower tariffs"

According to the Global Times citing Reuters, on April 17 local time, US President Trump hinted that the shocking reciprocal tariff increases between the US and China may come to an end.

Trump said, "At some point, I don't want to raise tariffs anymore because at a certain level, people won't buy goods. So I might not want to raise tariffs anymore, and I might even want to lower them because, you know, you want people to buy goods."

Trump claims an agreement with China will be reached within a month

According to CCTV, on April 17 local time, US President Trump expressed confidence in reaching an agreement with China. President Trump stated, "I believe we will reach an agreement with China, and we will reach agreements with everyone. If we don't reach an agreement, then we set a goal, and that's fine too. Things should be wrapped up in the next three to four weeks."

Trump continues to pressure Powell

Trump has pressured Powell for two consecutive days, calling for interest rate cuts, and White House advisors have acknowledged they are considering firing Powell. Trump stated that if we had a Federal Reserve chairman who knows what he is doing, interest rates would go down, and he should lower the rates. When asked about the "unprecedented option" of firing Powell, White House advisor Hassett replied that Trump and his team are studying the issue.

Shanghai Mayor Gong Zheng meets Jensen Huang

Gong Zheng stated that he welcomes globally renowned high-tech companies like NVIDIA to seize the opportunities presented by China's vast market and Shanghai's expansion of high-level opening up, gathering global resources and elements, strengthening deep cooperation with local enterprises, and creating a bright future for technological development together. Shanghai will continue to create a first-class business environment that is market-oriented, law-based, and internationalized, helping various enterprises achieve better and greater development.

Jensen Huang stated that the potential for artificial intelligence development is enormous, and countries should strengthen cooperation and sharing to promote common progress and global prosperity. The Chinese market is very important to NVIDIA, not only because of its large scale but also due to the high-quality customer base and good industrial ecosystem here. Over the past 30 years, NVIDIA's business has thrived precisely because of its deep cultivation of the Chinese market Shanghai is an important R&D base for NVIDIA, with a favorable business and industrial environment. NVIDIA complies with the laws of various countries and upholds its commitment to the Chinese market, striving to provide the best service for the Chinese market.

SHEIN and Temu inform American consumers of price increases starting April 25: Changes in tariffs lead to rising operating costs

Recently, the apparel e-commerce platform SHEIN and the cross-border e-commerce platform Temu under Pinduoduo announced on their official websites that due to recent changes in global trade rules and tariffs, operating costs have increased. To maintain quality, they will adjust prices starting April 25, 2025. Prices will remain unchanged until April 25. However, both platforms did not disclose the details of the price increase.

Chinese e-commerce platforms spark download craze in the U.S.

Driven by increased tariffs on China and the TikTok short video craze, Chinese e-commerce platforms Dhgate and Taobao have rapidly gained popularity among American consumers, both entering the top five of the free download charts on the Apple App Store. Dhgate: GMV growth exceeds 100% in 97 countries, with the top five contributing countries being the U.S., U.K., Canada, France, and Australia. The number of new registered buyers in a single day has increased nearly 20 times year-on-year since April 15.

Federal Reserve's Daly: Tariffs have not yet impacted the U.S. economy, rate cuts are not urgent, and there may still be rate cuts within the year

San Francisco Fed President Daly stated that she feels reassured by the market's expectation of two rate cuts in 2025, but inflation risks still exist, and there is no urgent need for the Federal Reserve to cut rates. She mentioned that there is still room for the Fed to reduce its balance sheet and that a tighter policy needs to be maintained over a longer period.

Tesla's low-cost Model Y production may be delayed from this year to next year

Media reports indicate that Tesla originally planned to produce the low-cost Model Y in the U.S. in the first half of this year, but this has now been postponed to the third quarter or early next year, with a goal of producing 250,000 units in the U.S. by 2026, and plans to eventually produce in China and Europe.

Trading volume of two stocks surges before announcement of Trump family appointments

The stock prices and trading volumes of drone manufacturer Unusual Machines and fintech company Dominari Holdings surged before the announcement of Trump's son joining their advisory team, raising renewed questions about potential insider trading or market manipulation by Trump's camp