Wall Street stocks down on Friday but end the week in positive territories

The earnings season started off with financial stocks but the market was disappointed.
The tense geopolitical context remains a major market driver.

Flavio Tosti Independent Analyst

The S&P 500 Index fell by 7.69 points or 0.3% to 2,656.30 and registerd a 2% gain on the week.The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 122.91 points or 0.5% to 24,360.14, however, it closed the week 1.8% higher while the Nasdaq lost 33.60 points or 0.5% to 7,106.65 and closed the week with a 2.8% increase.

The first quarter earnings season started off with Wells Fargo, Citigroup Inc, JP Morgan and PNC. However, the bank stocks dropped even though the profits were in line or even above analysts’ expectations.

"If you take out the capital markets business and the one-time events, it shows these banks aren't doing any business, and that's the key problem. If you take a look right across the board, credit cards are down, auto is down, student loans are down, the corporate area is mixed to down. The only thing that's working is middle-market lending." commented Dick Bove, chief strategist at Hilton Capital Management.

Also, a major driver of the market is the geopolitical situation in Syria. President Trump said earlier in the week that the US was getting ready to launch an airstrike on Syria. However, early on Thursday, Trump tweeted that he might not pull the trigger. Another major uncertainty affecting the general market sentiment is the ongoing trade war between the US and China.

S&P 500 weekly chart

This week, the market was unable to close above last week’s high at 2,672.50. Support lies at 2,530.75 cyclical low and 2,400 figure. Immediate resistance is at 2,680.25 which is the high of the week and then at 2,802.75 swing high.

Author

Flavio Tosti

Independent Analyst

AUD/USD remains depressed near 0.6950 after RBA minutes

AUD/USD attracts follow-through selling during Tuesday’s Asian session, looking to extend the overnight rejection slide from 0.7000, or a two-week top, following the release of RBA meeting Minutes. The US Dollar retains a bullish undertone near its highest level since April 2025 as energy-driven inflation risks keep December Fed rate hike bets firmly on the table. Adding to this, geopolitical risks further underpin the safe-haven USD.

USD/JPY extends retreat below 158.50 as intervention risks loom

USD/JPY is dropping below 158.50 in the Asian session on Tuesday, snapping a two-day winning streak and pulling back from an over two-week top touched the previous day, despite Japan's soft PPI inflation print. Bulls turn cautious amid speculation that authorities will step in to prop up the Japanese Yen, which, in turn, weighs on the pair.

Gold clings to gains just below $4,200

Gold fades Monday’s small pullback and picks up renewed pace, briefly flirting with the key $4,200 mark per troy ounce. The precious metal’s recovery comes in line with the fresh downward trend in the Greenback in combination with shrinking US Treasury yields across the board and easing tensions on the geopolitical front.

Solana reclaims 50-day EMA amid tokenization expansion

Solana (SOL) trades above $107 on Tuesday, reclaiming the 50-day EMA after closing below it the previous day. Meanwhile, Solana’s tokenization expansion and the upcoming listing of Hong Kong’s second spot Solana Exchange Traded Fund highlight growing institutional interest.

Dollar corrects as markets watch bank earnings

The US Dollar remains broadly strong but is now correcting, with a possible retest of the breakout zone around 102 on the Dollar Index. Equity markets are showing a mixed picture: the S&P 500 and Nasdaq are weaker, while blue-chip indices such as the Dow Jones and DAX are moving higher.

Has Bitcoin really escaped the macro forces it was built to fight?

Over 17 years ago, Satoshi Nakamoto designed Bitcoin (BTC) on the back of a global financial crisis as an alternative to the global monetary system outside the control of central banks, governments and traditional intermediaries. This raises a key question: has Bitcoin really become independent of the macroeconomic forces it was built to challenge?