Daily summary: US stocks slide as a choppy April draws to a close

• European indices finished the final trading day of April on a high note, with DAX 30 advancing 0.7% mostly driven by upbeat earnings and solid performance of companies from consumer and materials sectors;

• Eurozone inflation hit a record high for the sixth consecutive month in April;

• German police have searched the offices of Deutsche Bank in connection with a money laundering investigation.

• Dow Jones, S&P500 and Nasdaq fell 1.40%, 1.95% and 2.20% respectively following disappointing quarterly results from Amazon and Apple and hot inflation data;

• US PCE price inflation hit a record high of 6.6% YoY in March, while excluding food and energy, the PCE price index rose 5.2% YoY. 

• Chinese government pledged additional support for the Covid-hit economy and expects to meet economic targets;

• WTI oil and Brent prices rose 1.0% and 1.70% respectively and are heading towards fifth straight monthly gain 

• Mixed moods prevail on precious metal markets. Gold rose 1.0% and managed to break above $1910 amid a weaker dollar. Meanwhile silver erased early gains and returned to $23.00 level; 

• The yield on the 10-year US Treasury note rose to 2.89% as markets were recalibrating the higher possibility of a 50 bps interest rate hike in May

• Downbeat moods on Wall Street weighed on cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin dropped to  $38,600 while Ethereum approaches support at  $2800;

Majority of European indices finished today's session higher, however, sentiment deteriorated shortly after the close of trading on the Old Continent, when bears took control on Wall Street, following a slew of disappointing quarterly results from major tech companies while a batch of macroeconomic data only underscored the current difficult environment. Therefore next week investors’ attention will focus on decisions from three major central banks - Fed, BoE and RBA - and all three are expected to increase rates.

AUDUSD pair rose sharply during the early European session, however the mood reversed after US traders joined the market. Buyers failed to break above major resistance at 0.7200, which is marked with previous price reactions and the pair resumed downward move. Price is currently heading towards major support at 0.7060 which is marked with 38.2% Fibonacci retracement  of the upward wave launched in March 2020. Source: xStation5