Disagreements in US-China trade talks are causing market uncertainty, resulting in early volatility in US stocks, and tech stocks showing mixed results.
On April 25, 2025, there was a discrepancy in the US-China trade negotiations. President Donald Trump claimed that talks had begun, while Chinese officials denied it, resulting in cautious market sentiment. In early trading, US stocks fell, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping 204 points and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index down 0.5%. TSMC ADRs fell 0.9%, Nvidia rose 1.3%, Alphabet increased 2.9% on strong earnings, and Intel dropped 8.2% on poor financial forecasts.
Key Updates
04/25 15:04
Disagreements in US-China trade talks are causing market uncertainty, resulting in early volatility in US stocks, and tech stocks showing mixed results.
On April 25, 2025, there was a discrepancy in the US-China trade negotiations. President Donald Trump claimed that talks had begun, while Chinese officials denied it, resulting in cautious market sentiment. In early trading, US stocks fell, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping 204 points and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index down 0.5%. TSMC ADRs fell 0.9%, Nvidia rose 1.3%, Alphabet increased 2.9% on strong earnings, and Intel dropped 8.2% on poor financial forecasts.
Confusion in US-China Negotiations Leads to Conservative Market Sentiment
President Trump stated in a media interview that Chinese President Xi Jinping had spoken with him and that both sides were negotiating on tariff issues. However, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Commerce immediately denied this claim, emphasizing that "no consultations or negotiations on tariff issues have been initiated," and criticized the US for confusing the public.
This discrepancy in information has led to market uncertainty. Although China has signaled a de-escalation by initiating an exemption application process for some high-tariff US goods, covering 131 strategic materials such as vaccines, semiconductors, and aerospace parts, with an estimated total value of $45 billion, the conflicting statements on negotiation progress have led investors to take a wait-and-see approach.
US Stocks Volatile in Early Trading, Tech Stocks Show Mixed Performance
Affected by the uncertainty in trade negotiations, US stocks were volatile in early trading on the 25th. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 204 points, a decline of 0.5%; the S&P 500 and Nasdaq indices were near flat; the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index slightly dropped by 0.5%.
In the tech sector, TSMC's ADR fell 0.9%. According to reports, although TSMC showcased its A14 process and advanced packaging technology at the North American Technology Forum and announced the mass production of the next-generation CoWoS and SoW-X systems by 2027, the market remains focused on the results of the chip tariff investigation, limiting short-term stock performance.
NVIDIA's stock price rose by 1.3%. NVIDIA's CEO Jensen Huang recently visited Beijing and met with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, indicating the company's continued focus on the Chinese market. Despite US export restrictions on its H20 AI chips, with estimated losses of $5.5 billion, NVIDIA remains actively maintaining its market presence in China.
Alphabet's Impressive Earnings Report Boosts Stock by 2.9% in Early Trading
Alphabet, Google's parent company, released its first-quarter 2025 earnings report, with both revenue and profit exceeding market expectations. The company's total revenue reached $90.2 billion, a 12% year-over-year increase; net profit was $34.5 billion, a 46% year-over-year increase; earnings per share (EPS) came in at $2.81, significantly higher than the market expectation of $2.01.
Alphabet also announced a $70 billion stock buyback and increased capital expenditure to $75 billion, primarily for AI servers, data centers, and cloud infrastructure. Search advertising revenue grew nearly 10%, cloud division revenue increased by 28% year-over-year, and gross margin improved from 9.4% to 17.8%. These figures alleviated market concerns about potential reductions in its AI investments, driving the stock up by 2.9% in early trading.
Intel's Weak Forecast Causes Stock to Plunge 8.2%
Intel announced its first-quarter earnings, with revenue of $12.7 billion, slightly above the market expectation of $12.3 billion, and a loss of 19 cents per share, better than the expected loss of 22 cents. However, the company's revenue forecast for the second quarter is between $11.2 billion and $12.4 billion, below analysts' expectations of $12.9 billion, and it announced plans to lay off more than 20% of its workforce to reduce costs.
CEO Pat Gelsinger mentioned that the company will reshape its culture and reduce management layers to accelerate decision-making efficiency. Although foundry business sales increased by 7.1% year-over-year to $4.67 billion, the company expects foundry revenue to decline this quarter and has lowered its full-year capital expenditure to $18 billion. The CFO pointed out that tariff uncertainty and a global economic slowdown are putting pressure on performance, leading to an 8.2% drop in the stock in early trading.
