On Friday, April 14, 2023, U.S. stock indexes showed mixed performance: the S&P 500 Index closed down 0.11%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.56%, while the Nasdaq 100 Index rose 0.14%, reaching a six-week high. E-mini S&P futures dipped 0.12% while E-mini Nasdaq futures rose 0.12%. Notably, easing inflation concerns emerged as U.S. consumer prices increased by 3.3% year-over-year in March, slightly below expectations of 3.4%.
In a negative turn, the University of Michigan’s April consumer sentiment index dropped to a record low of 47.6, down 5.7 points from March, against expectations of 51.5. Furthermore, President Trump’s comments about potential military actions in Iran added pressure on the markets. Amid ongoing tensions, WTI crude oil prices remained volatile, where over 800 vessels are stranded in the Persian Gulf due to access restrictions imposed by Iran.
Global equity markets, however, showed strength, with Europe’s Euro Stoxx 50 gaining 0.51%, while Japan’s Nikkei increased 1.84%. In the tech sector, software stocks faced a downturn amid fears of AI disruptions, with notable drops for ServiceNow, Datadog, and Atlassian, while chipmakers like Broadcom and AMD experienced gains of over 4%.
