{"id":21231,"date":"2025-04-28T11:48:23","date_gmt":"2025-04-28T11:48:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/?p=21231"},"modified":"2025-04-28T11:48:23","modified_gmt":"2025-04-28T11:48:23","slug":"sp500-struggles-for-direction-ahead-of-gdp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/analysis\/sp500-struggles-for-direction-ahead-of-gdp\/","title":{"rendered":"SP500 Struggles for Direction Ahead of GDP"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"559\" src=\"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2026\/03\/indices6-1024x559.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-16990\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Key Points:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>SP500 closed at <strong>5509.88<\/strong>, slipping <strong>0.17%<\/strong> amid cautious trade.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Traders await <strong>U.S. Q1 GDP data<\/strong> Wednesday; risk of negative growth flagged.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Treasury Secretary Bessent<\/strong> downplays Trump&#8217;s tariff negotiation claims.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Tech giants <strong>Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, Apple<\/strong> report earnings midweek.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-dots\" \/>\n\n\n\n<p>After last week\u2019s tentative rally, U.S. stocks wobbled on Monday as traders grappled with the lingering fallout from President Donald Trump&#8217;s tariff threats and a fragile economic backdrop. The <strong>SP500 drifted lower<\/strong>, closing near <strong>5509<\/strong>, as the market cautiously positioned ahead of critical data and corporate earnings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">World stocks hang onto hope as trade talk confusion lingers <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/uJFHGNqinN\">https:\/\/t.co\/uJFHGNqinN<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/uJFHGNqinN\">https:\/\/t.co\/uJFHGNqinN<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Reuters (@Reuters) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Reuters\/status\/1916790801473937576?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 28, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite recent signs of easing trade tensions, <strong>anxiety persists<\/strong>. Treasury Secretary <strong>Scott Bessent<\/strong> clarified that <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/EhMnhY85q5\">no formal talks<\/a><\/strong> with China are underway, walking back Trump\u2019s earlier assertions and adding to policy confusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Meanwhile, traders remain unnerved by political signals after weeks of Trump attacking, then retracting criticism of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size\">Macro Focus<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Attention now shifts sharply to <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bea.gov\/data\/gdp\/gross-domestic-product\">U.S. first-quarter GDP data<\/a><\/strong> due Wednesday. Economists forecast <strong>a slim 0.4% growth<\/strong>, down from <strong>2.4%<\/strong> the previous quarter. However, the <strong>Atlanta Fed\u2019s GDPNow model<\/strong> still warns of a potential contraction, heightening fears of an imminent <strong>technical recession<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Adding to the mix, over <strong>40% of SP500 companies<\/strong> are set to report earnings this week. Particularly critical are results from the so-called <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/finance\/stocks\/magnificent-seven-stocks-2025-losses-352b356e#:~:text=Alphabet%2C%20Amazon%2C%20Apple%2C%20Meta,the%202022%20slide%2C%20worrying%20investors\">&#8220;Magnificent Seven&#8221;<\/a><\/strong> tech stocks: Microsoft, Meta, Apple, and Amazon. Their forward guidance will likely shape broader sentiment into May.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size\">Technical Analysis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>SP500<\/strong> is holding within a <strong>tight consolidation band<\/strong> after a recent bounce from the <strong>5493.75<\/strong> support area. Price is now hovering around <strong>5509.88<\/strong>, showing resilience despite overall market hesitation. The <strong>moving averages (5, 10, 30)<\/strong> have flattened out, reflecting a <strong>neutral, sideways trend<\/strong> as buyers and sellers reach a temporary equilibrium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2026\/03\/image-33-1024x438.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-21232\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><em>Picture: SP500 consolidates near recent highs, with buyers cautiously defending key support, see on the <\/em><em><a href=\"https:\/\/vtmarketsapp.onelink.me\/CD7D\/240525WA\">VT Markets app<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Meanwhile, the <strong>MACD<\/strong> is gradually recovering from earlier bearish momentum but remains close to the zero line, suggesting a <strong>lack of strong conviction<\/strong> either way. A break above <strong>5537.45<\/strong> could trigger further upside toward <strong>5560<\/strong>, while failure to hold <strong>5490<\/strong> risks a deeper pullback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The short-term outlook is <strong>neutral with a bullish bias<\/strong>, provided the current support levels hold firm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Markets remain vulnerable to <strong>unexpected tariff headlines, weaker GDP prints, or disappointing tech earnings<\/strong>. The cautious undertone suggests traders are bracing for potential shocks rather than chasing risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Until clarity emerges around <strong>growth resilience<\/strong> and <strong>trade policies<\/strong>, the SP500 could remain trapped within a choppy, nervous range.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/trade-now\/\">Create your live VT Markets account<\/a><\/strong><strong> and <\/strong><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/myaccount.vtmarkets.com\/login?_gl=1*1azgbap*_gcl_au*NjE5NTE3MjY4LjE3NDQ2MDA3NDI.*_ga*MTY4OTgwNTU5Mi4xNzM2NzQ2MTgy*_ga_J26NL1ZVX7*czE3NDQ5NDQ0NTYkbzEyMCRnMCR0MTc0NDk0NDQ1NiRqNjAkbDAkaDA.\">start trading<\/a><\/strong><strong> now.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The SP500 struggles to find momentum as global recession risks loom. &#8211; vtmarkets.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":16990,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[11],"class_list":["post-21231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-analysis","tag-indices"],"acf":{"acf_article_selection_author":null},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/64"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21231"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21231\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16990"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}