29th April 2025

PiQ is Proudly Partnered with Pepperstone - A Better Way To Trade - FIND OUT MORE

‍

Visit PiQ Suite

‍

TRADE:

• Trump is expected to soften the impact of his automotive tariffs, preventing duties on foreign-made cars from stacking on top of other tariffs he has imposed and easing some levies on foreign parts used to manufacture cars in the U.S., according to WSJ sources. (WSJ)
• Amazon is seeking steep discounts from suppliers and setting tough terms to protect its margins, as the technology giant works to limit the damage from Trump’s tariffs. (FT)
• China will not dump its goods in other countries due to its trade and tariff war with the U.S., Beijing's ambassador to India, Xu Feihong, wrote in an article on Tuesday, trying to allay fears of cheap Chinese goods flooding other markets. (RTRS)
• China is willing to support normal cooperation with US companies, the country’s Ministry of Commerce said, just days after Chinese airlines rejected taking delivery of any new jets from US planemaker Boeing Co. The move would seem to indicate an olive branch of sorts from China. (BBG)
• China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi warned countries against caving in to US tariff threats, as the Trump administration hints at the possible use of new trade tools to pressure Beijing. (BBG)
• Foreign ministers from the BRICS group of developing nations met on Monday to discuss a shared defense of the global trade system, coordinating their response to the barrage of new tariffs from Trump. (RTRS)
• Trump’s tariffs could push Asian nations closer to China and destabilize regional security, Japan’s ruling party policy chief warned, calling for stronger defense ties between Washington and Tokyo. (BBG)
• Indian trade negotiators are planning to showcase the country’s large pipeline of Boeing Co. plane orders and the potential for more to come as they seek a favorable deal with the US. (BBG)

‍

MACRO:

• CEOs and senior executives from Nvidia, Johnson & Johnson, Hyundai Motor, Toyota Motor, and SoftBank Group are among the more than two-dozen business leaders slated to visit the White House on Wednesday for an event highlighting U.S. investments, officials told Reuters. (RTRS)
• Virologists have warned the US should step up efforts to combat its year-long bird H5N1 flu outbreak and control the pandemic risk to people. (FT)
• Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberals win election, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation projects. (CBC)
• China’s copper stockpiles are on track to dwindle to nothing in just a few months, as the market suffers “one of the greatest tightening shocks” in its history on fears of US tariffs, according to executives at Mercuria. (FT)
• A gauge of strength in China’s copper market, the Yangshan premium, has jumped to the highest since late 2023 as buyers scramble to secure supplies. (BBG)
• China's yuan rose on Tuesday to its strongest level against the U.S. dollar in nearly a month, recovering from losses sustained after the U.S. announced hefty tariffs, as Beijing signalled a commitment to currency stability. (RTRS)
• Some Chinese exporters are speeding up conversion of their dollar income into yuan on bets the worst of the tariff-led loss in the local currency may be over. (BBG)
• Trip numbers are set to reach a three-year post-COVID high during China's upcoming May Day public holidays, travel firms say. (RTRS)
• Japan’s largest four life insurers plan to reduce or stay flat in JGBs, based on their fiscal-year investment plans, two members of Barclays’ Japan FX and Rates Strategy team say in a research report. (WSJ)
• Authorities in Spain and Portugal were scrambling on Tuesday to get transport networks and infrastructure running again after a massive power outage brought the two countries to a standstill. (FT)
• ECB's Kazaks said the ECB should be able to carry on with gradual interest-rate reductions. (BBG)
• Several top euro-zone officials want to exempt more lenders from European Central Bank oversight as part of efforts to simplify banking regulation. (BBG)
• German consumer confidence unexpectedly ticked up despite the warnings of the economic hit from U.S. trade policy, as consumers pinned their hopes on the stability of the new incoming government, according to the latest GfK survey. (WSJ)
• UK ministers are using strong-arm tactics to pressure pension funds to honour a proposed “voluntary” commitment to invest more in UK assets, industry figures have claimed. (FT)
• UK food inflation has hit an 11-month high as staples such as bread, meat and fish become more expensive at a time of higher costs for retailers, BRC data showed. (FT)
• RBA's Kent said global foreign exchange markets recorded a “sharp rise” in volatility earlier this month as traders worked through the potential impact of US tariff announcements, before becoming “more settled” in recent days. (BBG)
• New Zealand Finance Minister Willis said baseline spending in the 2025 budget would be reduced to NZ$1.3 billion from a forecast of NZ$2.4 billion, as she outlined worsening economic conditions in the country. (RTRS)
• New Zealand’s filled jobs rose only slightly in the first three months, reinforcing signs the labor market will take time to mend as concerns about growth at home and abroad leave employers reluctant to hire. (BBG)
• Turkish banks are set to borrow at the longest maturities on the syndicated loan market in nearly a decade, with some investors seeing slower inflation partly offsetting global uncertainties caused by Trump’s tariff plans. (BBG)
• Malaysia is delaying a planned expansion of its sales and service tax, providing a temporary reprieve for manufacturers bracing for higher US tariffs. (BBG)

‍

Visit PiQ Suite

‍

🤝 PiQ is Proudly Partnered with Pepperstone - A Better Way To Trade - FIND OUT MORE

‍

GEOPOLITICS:

• 'Russia Hopes Warmer Weather Will Boost Flagging Spring Offensive' where hardening ground and increasing foliage could hamper Ukraine’s efforts to hold the line, WSJ reports. (WSJ)

‍

EQUITIES:

• Microsoft and OpenAI’s partnership, once strong, is now strained due to disagreements over computing power and access to the startup’s models, with both parties holding leverage over each other's future plans. (WSJ)
• S&P Global Ratings said it’s no longer considering cutting Boeing Co.’s debt to junk status, citing the planemaker’s $24 billion cash balance and other factors that give it a cushion to absorb future difficulties. (BBG)
• Wall Street banks sold the final slug of the debt they lent for Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter in 2022. The $1.2 billion of loans sold at 98 cents on the dollar. (WSJ)
• Cadence Design Systems raised its annual revenue and profit forecasts, betting on resilient demand for its chip design software from semiconductor firms amid an AI boom, but tariff-led concerns around its China business cast a shadow. (RTRS)
• NXP Semiconductors NV announced a new chief executive officer as part of its quarterly earnings report and warned that the chipmaker was navigating “a very uncertain environment” due to tariffs. (BBG)
• American Airlines Group Inc. said it’s ended discussions with JetBlue Airways Corp. to revive a pact for the two airlines to team up again. (BBG)
• Mastercard Inc. announced that it will give merchants the option to receive payments in stablecoins amid increasing global regulatory clarity on the digital assets that are usually pegged to fiat currencies. (BBG)
• Adidas AG refrained from raising its financial targets for the year because of the concern around US tariffs, which will raise prices on consumers in the world’s biggest sports market and could upend the German brand’s momentum. (BBG)
• Deutsche Bank has reported its highest quarterly pre-tax profit in 14 years after a strong performance in its investment banking arm helped the lender defy broader market pressures. (FT)
• Deutsche Lufthansa posted a narrowed adjusted earnings loss on higher revenue and a strong performance of its core brand airline in the first quarter of the year. (WSJ)
• Rheinmetall reported a rise in first-quarter preliminary earnings that beat market forecasts due to higher sales for its military business, and backed its full-year guidance. (WSJ)
• HSBC Holdings announced a share buyback of up to $3 billion as it reported a drop in first-quarter net profit. (WSJ)
• BP Plc cut its quarterly share buyback to $750 million, at the bottom of its target range, as lower oil prices and rising debt tested its balance sheet. (BBG)
• Porsche slashed a series of forecasts for 2025, hit by a toxic mix of weakness in its main market China, rising supply chain costs and U.S. tariffs that are disrupting the global car industry. (RTRS)
• Novartis raised its 2025 outlook after it posted higher first-quarter profit and sales that beat consensus expectations, boosted by strong demand for its key drugs. (WSJ)
• Volvo Car AB is embarking on an 18 billion Swedish kronor ($1.87 billion) cost cutting program to counter tepid demand and trade tensions weighing on the auto industry. (BBG)
• Alibaba Group launched Qwen 3 on Tuesday, an upgraded version of its flagship artificial intelligence model that introduces new hybrid reasoning capabilities. (RTRS)
• Chinese carmakers expanding into Europe are being forced to readjust their short-term ambitions as tariff roadblocks have slowed product launches and made their electric vehicles less affordable. (FT)
• China Evergrande Group Chairman Hui Ka Yan plans to refuse disclosing details of his assets, its liquidators said, likely complicating efforts to wind up the defaulted builder to pay back creditors. (BBG)
• Unimicron, Taiwan's leading maker of chip substrate and printed circuit boards, expects robust demand from high-end AI data centers for 2025 if the tariff war between the U.S. and China does not escalate further. (Nikkei)
• Sony Group is considering spinning off its semiconductor unit, according to Bloomberg sources, marking the PlayStation maker’s latest effort to streamline its business and focus on entertainment. (BBG)
• Samsung shifts focus to 3D DRAM in intensifying competition from SK Hynix and Chinese rivals. (DigiTimes)
• Woodside Energy is involved in intensive discussions with a couple of parties interested in participating in its newly approved $17.5 billion Louisiana LNG gas-export project, Chief Executive Meg O’Neill said. (WSJ)

‍