Among companies with a capitalization of at least $10 billion, the largest increase last week was recorded by the American pharmaceutical company Summit Therapeutics, whose shares increased by 33.87% over the past business week. The price of one share reached $23.24. Next is Harmony Gold Mining Company. The shares of this American company engaged in gold mining increased by 32% over the past business week, reaching $17.16 a share. This top three is completed by another mining company, AngloGold Ashanti, with a growth of 27.54%. The price of one share of this company is $42.79.
The top three of large-capitalization companies that recorded the biggest losses last week is opened by Rocket Companies. This financial services company’s stock price has fallen by 22.73% in a week and is now at $11.90 per share. Next is PDD Holdings. The price of the shares of this group of companies, one of which is the Chinese online shopping platform Pinduoduo, has dropped by 13.16% and reached $90.50. This top three is rounded out by Full Truck Alliance. The price of the shares of this Chinese company, which provides delivery and logistics services, fell by 13.12% and is now at $9.67 a share.
On April 9, US President Donald Trump made another shocking decision, and temporarily canceled most of the new tariffs that had been imposed earlier. This unexpected turn of events occurred after global markets reacted with panic to Trump's tariffs. In just four days, the capitalization of the US stock market fell by about $6 trillion, which was the biggest drop since the 1950s. However, Trump did not cancel all tariffs. The overall tariff of 10% on virtually all imports to the US remains in force, and US tariffs on Chinese goods have actually been raised from 104% to 145%, which shows that China is the target of Trump's tariff policy.
After the decision to cancel the tariffs, stock indexes recorded record growth on Wednesday. The S&P 500 recorded the second largest, and the Nasdaq—the largest one-day increase since 2008. The Dow Jones rose by 7.87% in one day, the S&P 500—by 9.52%, and the Nasdaq—by 12.16%. But in the next session, stock indexes fell again, due to non-optimistic expectations about US-China trade relations. The Dow Jones fell by 2.5%, the S&P 500—by 3.46%, and the Nasdaq—by 4.31%. At the end of the week, however, stock indexes recovered again. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 1.56%, the S&P 500—by 1.81%, and the Nasdaq—by 2.06%. Markets that have been in turmoil over Trump's tariff policies were helped to calm down also by comments from senior officials at the US Federal Reserve, who assured that there was no risk of stagflation in the US and that the Federal Reserve would come to the aid of the financial system if necessary. Investors were inspired optimism also by the fact that major banks such as JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, and Wells Fargo reported better-than-expected earnings reports.
US bond yields rose sharply on Friday, the dollar weakened, and gold rose to a new record high, which is a result of growing concerns about the US-China trade war. The yield on the US 10-year Treasury bonds rose by 4.478%, its biggest weekly gain since 2001. The trade war has kept investors on edge all week. There has been a large outflow of funds from US assets, especially bonds, which has pushed up their yields and pushed down the US dollar, whose exchange rate has hit a three-year low against the euro.
Global technology stocks rose on Monday after the US government said smartphones, laptops, and other computer equipment will be temporarily exempted from steep tariffs on Chinese imports. This move was very important for the tech sector, whose shares have been falling for the past two weeks due to the US-China trade war. It was particularly worrisome for companies like Apple, which relies heavily on Chinese-made components for its leading products like the iPhone. Apple shares, which had fallen 9.1% in the past two weeks, rose 4% on Friday and closed at $198.15. Apple led the rise in the “Magnificent Seven” technology stocks, which have all been hit hard in recent days. The shares of HP and Dell also rose 6% and 6.8%, respectively, while Nvidia’s shares were less so—by nearly 2%. European technology stocks also rose.
Tesla is struggling in both China and the US due to rising tariffs and weak demand. In China, the company has stopped taking new orders for its high-end Model S and Model X vehicles. The latter are manufactured in California, but now face a 125% import tariff that China imposed in response to Trump’s high tariffs. In the US, Tesla is struggling to maintain demand for its Cybertruck. And to boost sales, it has launched a cheaper version of this truck, priced at $69,990, which is $10,000 less than the previous base model. Despite this, Cybertruck sales have fallen sharply.
On Monday, 5 billion drams of government bonds were placed at Armenia’s stock market, and they will be redeemed on April 13, 2026. The public auction had three participants, and the amount of proposals submitted by them totaled 11.064 billion drams. The weighted average price of the placed government bonds was 92.2013 drams, and the yield was 8.3884 percent.
US consumer sentiment fell sharply so far in April, with concerns about inflation rising amid growing concerns about the US-China trade war. The consumer sentiment index issued by the University of Michigan fell to 50.8 from 57 in March. This is a much worse indicator than economists predicted. The report said that one of the biggest concerns for consumers is inflation. The latter’s expectations for the next 12 months rose to 6.7%, compared with 5% in March.
The US Federal Reserve is in no hurry to cut its refinancing interest rate, despite growing concerns that a trade war could slow the US economy. At their meeting back in March, those in charge of this system had expressed concern that trade tensions could reduce consumer spending and business investment. Despite this, the Federal Reserve has so far refrained from cutting interest rates. There are concerns that if they cut interest rates to contribute to economic growth, it could stimulate inflation. The US refinancing interest rate is currently set at 4.25% to 4.50%. Officials are waiting until it becomes clearer to see how the tariffs will affect inflation, unemployment, and consumer spending.
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