• Wall Street equities closed lower on April 25, with the DJI declined by -0.98%, the S&P 500 fell by -0.46%, and the Nasdaq closed down by -0.64%.
• US stocks saw moderate decline on Thursday, led by weakness in the tech sector. Bond yields surged on signs of persistent inflation and a strong labor market data, stirred Fed policy concerns. Additionally, stagflation fears intensified due to a larger-than-expected downward revision to US Q1 GDP.
• US Treasury 10-yr yields increased by +5.0 bps to 4.70%, while 2-yr yields surged by +7.0 bps to 4.96%. Both yield reached their highest levels since November at their session highs.
• US weekly initial unemployment claims unexpectedly dropped by -5,000 to reach a 2-month low of 207,000, indicating a stronger labor market compared to expectations of an increase to 215,000.
• US Q1 GDP was revised downward to 1.6% from 3.4%, falling short of expectations of 2.5%. This revision was driven by a lower Q1 personal consumption, revised to 2.5% from 3.3%, below expectations of 3.0%. Additionally, the Q1 core PCE price index was revised upward to +3.7% from +2.0%, surpassing expectations of +3.4%.
• Meanwhile in Europe, the German GfK consumer confidence index for May surged by +3.1 points to reach a 2-year high of -24.2, surpassing expectations of -26.0.
• Global bond yields moved higher on Thursday; The German bond yield rose by +8.6 bps to 2.58%, the UK 10-yr gilt yield surged by +9.30 bps to 4.33% and the Japanese 10-yr JGB yield closed up by +1.60 bps to 0.91%.
