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Welcome back to a new edition,
The World in a Week: How Major Markets Moved
U.S. | Sentiment improved as easing Middle East tensions and strong earnings supported risk appetite. Around 84% of companies beat estimates, with earnings growth at 15.1% YoY. Retail sales rose 1.7%, driven by fuel, while inflation expectations moved up to 4.7% on energy pressures.
Europe | Energy risks continued to weigh on sentiment. German business confidence fell to 84.4, the lowest since the pandemic, while Spain’s producer prices rose 3.4% YoY, highlighting inflation pressures.
Japan | Rising energy costs pushed inflation to 1.8% YoY, while the yen stayed near 160 per dollar, keeping intervention risk in focus. The Bank of Japan is expected to stay cautious.
China | Markets stabilised as policymakers held rates for the 11th straight month. GDP growth at 5% YoY supported confidence, while new AI model launches signalled continued tech momentum.
India | Sentiment remained under pressure as oil and currency moves drove the market. Brent stayed above $100, with crude up over 30–40% since late February, raising inflation and earnings risk. The rupee weakened to around 95 per dollar, its lowest levels in years, while foreign investors continued selling, with roughly $18–19 billion in outflows this year. Brokerages have started cutting earnings growth estimates to around 11–13%, reflecting pressure from higher input costs and weaker global demand.
Stock market closing data for the week of Apr 20 to Apr 24, 2026
Index information: STOXX 600 (tracks 600 large, mid- & small-cap EU firms), DAX (top 40 German blue chips), CAC 40 (leading French stocks), Nikkei 225 (225 top Japanese stocks), CSI 300 & SSEC (mainland China A-shares), and Hang Seng (large-cap Hong Kong-listed firms). For these indices, we track 1-week returns to capture how global sentiment is shifting.
News Summaries
Intel +21% and AMD +13% as AI CPU Demand Sparks Chip Rally
Shares of Intel Corporation soared 21% in a single day after a stronger-than-expected Q1 2026 earnings report, with $13.6 B in revenue and $0.29 EPS, well above forecasts – sending the stock to record highs on renewed confidence in AI CPU demand.
The rally extended a multi-week surge in chip stocks as investors priced in robust growth for AI-optimised central processors amid expanding data-centre workloads.
Intel’s bullish outlook and strong sales also helped lift the broader semiconductor complex, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index hitting record levels and showing over 40% YTD gains, a sign of sustained sector momentum.
Riding this chip wave, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) climbed 13%, breaking above key technical levels as analysts upgraded coverage and tied its prospects to continued AI infrastructure demand, including AMD’s upcoming MI450 and Helios platforms and a raised price target in the low-$300s.
Why it matters: The rally underscores a broader shift where AI CPU inference demand is complementing GPU growth, reinvigorating legacy chip makers and lifting sentiment across the semiconductor ecosystem.
ServiceNow Dips as Earnings Fall Flat Amid Margin & Growth Concerns
Shares of ServiceNow plunged 18% in a single session, marking one of the stock’s steepest drops, after the company posted first-quarter 2026 results that beat top-line expectations but failed to satisfy investors on forward growth and profitability.
Total revenue rose ~22% YoY to $3.77 billion, with subscription revenue up ~22% YoY to $3.67 billion and current remaining performance obligations (cRPO) up ~22.5% to $12.64 billion, but the reaction was overshadowed by concerns over slowing deals and widening margins.
Investors were also unsettled by commentary that Middle East deal delays due to geopolitical tensions exerted roughly a 75-basis-point headwind on subscription growth, while recent acquisitions like Armis (~$7.75 B) are expected to pressure 2026 margins and cash flow.
The sell-off triggered broader weakness across software peers as markets weighed the sector’s ability to sustain premium growth rates in the face of both geopolitical and competitive pressures.
Why it matters: Despite solid underlying metrics and a strong AI product pipeline, near-term investor focus on margin outlook, deal timing, and growth reacceleration has driven a sharp valuation reset for ServiceNow and the wider enterprise software pack.
Tesla Drops 6% in the Week, Strong Sales, but Margin and Cost Signals Weigh on Stock
Shares of Tesla wavered after the company’s earnings call, with the stock trading flat to slightly lower despite reporting record deliveries of ~530,000 vehicles in Q1 (+25% YoY) – a new quarterly high driven by robust Model Y and China volume. Energy storage deployments also climbed, with Megapack and Powerwall shipments growing ~30% YoY.
Tesla posted revenue of ~$25.5 billion (+18% YoY) and adjusted earnings per share of ~$0.99, modestly above consensus, but markets focused on flat automotive gross margins (~24%) and continued pressure on operating expenses as supply chain and logistics costs remain elevated.
Guidance for the rest of the year emphasised scaling production in new Gigafactories (Berlin & Texas) while managing cost efficiency – a key variable for sustaining Tesla’s premium valuation.
Despite strong topline growth and leadership in EV deliveries, the stock’s muted reaction reflects investor sensitivity to profitability trends, margin compression, and capex intensity, especially as rivals accelerate EV production and AI/robotics initiatives in parallel.
Why it matters: Tesla’s story is now balancing volume leadership and delivery growth with evolving expectations around operating margins and execution cadence, making near-term stock moves more reflective of execution confidence than just headline sales figures.
Private Markets Pulse | Stripe-Backed Tempo Expands Real-World Stablecoin Payments with DoorDash Integration
Stripe’s blockchain venture Tempo, co-developed with crypto investor Paradigm, marked a significant adoption milestone this week as DoorDash announced plans to use the Tempo network to power stablecoin-based payouts and payment rails for merchants and delivery workers across 40+ countries.
The initiative aims to bring faster settlement and lower cross-border fees to a global marketplace that processed nearly $75 billion in sales last year, highlighting the appeal of blockchain-native money movement for high-volume platforms.
Tempo’s design focuses on sub-second settlement, predictable transaction fees, and enterprise-grade rails for stablecoins like USDC/USDT, enabling DoorDash to explore paying Dashers and merchants in digital dollars rather than traditional bank transfers that can take days and incur high FX spreads.
The collaboration comes amid a broader uptick in corporate stablecoin infrastructure adoption, with partners including Visa, Mastercard, Shopify, ARQ, and Coastal Bank also plugging into Tempo’s network. Increased regulatory clarity around stablecoins and turnkey advisory services from Tempo are cited as key drivers enabling this enterprise uptake.
For markets and enterprise finance teams, the move underscores Stripe’s evolution from payment processor to cross-rail fintech platform, bridging traditional settlement, on-chain stablecoin rails, and emerging use cases such as gig-economy payroll and merchant payouts – a tangible step toward mainstreaming blockchain-based payments.
For investors closely tracking Stripe, Vested provides access to invest in Stripe through a Private Markets offering.
