Before the bell: “Liberation Day” losses erased

Wall Street continued its recovery and Hong Kong is also in the green ahead of earnings from Chinese tech companies.

The panic triggered by Trump’s tariff hike on Liberation Day (April 2) is starting to look a lot like the COVID crash of February–March 2020. Back then, it also took a moment for investors to realise how devastating the pandemic and resulting lockdowns would be for the economy. But once panic set in, the market also rebounded quickly. Now, less than a month and a half after the bad news, markets have already recovered their earlier highs. Panic rarely pays. Wall Street had another strong day yesterday, helped by lower-than-expected inflation in April (2.3%). The S&P 500 rose by 0.7%, and the Nasdaq climbed 1.6%. The Dow Jones lost 0.6%, but that was due to heavyweight UnitedHealth (-18.8%), which plummeted after yet another profit warning and the departure of its CEO. Among the winners were Nvidia (+5.6%), Palantir (+8.1%), Super Micro Computer (+16%), and First Solar (+22.7%). European markets posted a more modest average gain of 0.4%. Notable risers included TKH (+3.8%), Stellantis (+4.4%), AMG (+4.5%), and Vestas (+9.2%). In contrast, Munich Re (-4.6%) and Dutch charging station manufacturer Alfen (-26.1%) stood out on the downside.

In Tokyo this morning, some profit-taking led the Topix to decline by 0.7%. Still, tech holding SoftBank rose 4.4% and Sony gained 1.9% following strong results. Over in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index is up 1.4%, with Li Auto (+3.9%) and Baidu (+3.2%) outperforming. Once again, it’s a packed day of shareholder meetings. Belgian companies holding annual meetings today include Avantium, Bekaert, bpost, Brederode, Cofinimmo, Shurgard, and Smartphoto. Investors will also get operational updates from Care Property Invest, DEME, and D’Ieteren. ABN AMRO, Agfa-Gevaert, Burberry, Cisco, Euronext, Nyxoah, and Tencent are all publishing results today.

Blow hot, blow cold

Do we need more data centres—or are there already enough? In the ongoing debate about the strategic importance of data centres, Samsung is firmly in the “more, please” camp. The Korean tech group announced this morning that it will acquire German air technology firm FläktGroup for 1.5 billion euro. The seller is a private equity player cashing out after nine years. FläktGroup specialises in ventilation systems, which are critical to data centres, and operates globally—including a team of 40 engineers in Belgium.

DEME walks the tightrope

The wind energy sector is also experiencing mixed signals. Trump remains no fan of wind turbines, and in Europe, heavy defence spending threatens to crowd out subsidies for new offshore wind projects and energy islands. DEME, a key player in the sector, reported a first-quarter revenue increase to 993 million euro, up 10% year-on-year. That’s good news. Less positive is the order backlog, which remained flat at 7.6 billion euro—or even declined from 8.2 billion euro at the end of 2024. However, this figure doesn’t yet reflect DEME’s acquisition of Norway’s Havfram—a specialist in transporting and installing offshore wind turbines and foundations. The 900 million euro deal gives DEME access to the specialised vessels it needs. These numbers also matter for Belgian holding company Ackermans & van Haaren, which owns 62% of DEME. The wind energy firm accounts for nearly 30% of AvH’s portfolio.

Did you know…

that Microsoft announced yesterday it will be cutting over 6,000 jobs—just under 3% of its 228,000 employees. In 2023, the software giant had already eliminated 10,000 positions.

This article was translated from Dutch and was originally published on Spaarvarkens.be.