On 24 April (local time), New York stocks closed mixed as President Donald Trump’s threats of wider escalation against Iran met a sell-off in semiconductor shares. The S&P 500 edged up 0.05% to 7,411.98, effectively flat, while the Nasdaq Composite ended down 0.64% at 24,975.82. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 235.60 points (0.46%) at 51,947.25, helped by Apple’s jump of 3.5%.

All three major indices fell on a weekly basis. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq dropped 0.6% and 2.1% respectively, logging a second consecutive week of losses, while the Dow slid 0.4% for a third straight week lower.

Trump says it is “reviewing the biggest attack yet”…Oil falls on reports of a Pakistan mediation

The main driver of intraday volatility was the situation in the Middle East. In an interview with Axios this week, President Trump said he was “considering” an attack on Iran of a “largest scale yet” and that he would “make a decision soon”. The New York Times reported that the president was set to meet senior aides and ministers today to decide whether to escalate further. The US Central Command carried out air strikes on Iran for 13 consecutive days overnight.

In the early trading hours, Reuters reported, citing three Pakistan sources, that Pakistan is exploring a new path for peace talks between the United States and Iran led by China, prompting oil to switch lower and the indexes to rise. However, the sources said obstacles to the talks remain high.

Brent crude rose above $100 a barrel for the first time since the end of May this week, but on the day it closed down nearly 4% at $96.78. WTI also closed at $89.31, down 3%. Investors appeared reluctant to keep long positions, wary that the weekend could bring even more aggressive strikes on Iran.

Intel plunges nearly 8% despite an earnings surprise…Broader weakness in semiconductors

Intel slid close to 8% after giving back early gains despite second-quarter results coming in above Wall Street expectations. Broadcom (-2.7%), AMD (-3.3%) and Micron (-7%) also fell, and VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) was down 3%.

Alphabet down 7.1% and Tesla crashes 14.52%…Communication services and discretionary shares suffer the biggest weekly drops

The shock from Alphabet and Tesla, which reported results the day before on 23 April, dominated the market’s direction this week. The communication services and consumer discretionary sectors both fell by around 6% this week, landing among the worst-performing industries for the week. Consumer discretionary posted its worst week since early April 2025, while communication services logged its worst week in a month.

Tesla plunged 14.52% after its results announcement on Thursday, recording the biggest one-day drop on the day of the worst earnings update in its history, and is heading towards the weakest weekly performance since March 2020. Revenue beat expectations, but concerns about weaker profits and profitability stood out. Shares also fell more than 3% again on the day, expanding July’s monthly drop to about 26%, pushing the stock to around $308.

Alphabet sank 7.1% on Thursday, showing its worst reaction to an earnings report since February 2025. Its cloud segment grew 82% and revenue beat expectations, but investors focused on a management decision to raise its 2025 capital expenditure plan to as much as $205 billion. Alphabet shares fell below the 200-day moving average for the first time since June last year based on Thursday’s closing price.

Michael Burry keeps his Tesla short…Boosts Nvidia and SMH short positions as well

Michael Burry, the star of “The Big Short”, said on the day that he is maintaining his Tesla short position through a post on his Substack. He wrote, “I haven’t closed the Tesla short. It is just getting smaller on its own.” Burry is reported to have shorted Tesla at the end of June for $416.22. He said he is also keeping short positions on Nvidia put options, the Invesco QQQ Trust and Palantir Technologies. About Nvidia, he argued that “AI infrastructure demand is driven by the financial financing structure rather than the end customer”, adding that “a significant portion of the demand now and in the future, maybe even most of it, is financed via off-balance-sheet circular financial structures”.

Weaker together in data-centre infrastructure stocks…Booz Allen Hamilton jumps 12%

Concerns continued over whether hyperscalers will keep investing in AI, and data-centre infrastructure stocks also slipped. Corning fell 3%, while photonics firms Coherent and Lumentum fell by nearly 7% each. GE Vernova, Eaton and the Defiance AI&Power Infrastructure ETF (AIPO) all dropped by more than 1% as well. By contrast, defence consultancy Booz Allen Hamilton surged 12% after reporting first-quarter fiscal results above expectations. Adjusted earnings per share came in at $1.81, well above the FactSet consensus of $1.48, and the company also reaffirmed its annual guidance.

Earnings season posts its fastest growth since 2021…Next week’s FOMC is the next variable

Aside from shocks to individual stocks, the second-quarter earnings season as a whole remains very solid. According to FactSet, 27% of S&P 500 companies had reported earnings, with 86% beating earnings-per-share estimates and 80% topping revenue estimates. The combined earnings growth rate for the quarter rose 37.9% year-on-year, up sharply from 23.2% expected at the end of June. If this trend holds, it will mark the fastest earnings growth since the third quarter of 2021. Of the 11 industry groups, earnings outlooks were raised after 30 June for nine industries, and companies offering positive guidance for the third quarter (11) outnumbered those issuing negative guidance (9), creating a more balanced tone.

US 10-year Treasury yields fell by 1bp to 4.693% on the day. It was a slight easing from 4.7%, which it had surpassed during the previous session and which was the highest level since January 2025.

Next week’s scheduled Federal Reserve FOMC meeting and whether there is further escalation in the Middle East over the weekend are key variables that will determine the direction of the market on the next trading day.

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