Busy US earnings week confronts market grappling with tariff woes

Investors remain on edge after Trump’s sweeping April 2 tariff announcement stunned markets and sparked some of the most volatile trading since the onset of the COVID-I9 pandemic five years ago

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A heavy slate of US company results in the coming week will test a stock market shaken by a US trade policy overhaul that upended the outlook for the global economy and corporate America.

Investors remain on edge after President Donald Trump's sweeping April 2 tariff announcement stunned markets and sparked some of the most volatile trading since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic five years ago.

After rebounding somewhat last week, the benchmark S&P 500 stock index fell this week and was down 1.4% from its February record high. Volatility levels moderated from five-year peaks but remain elevated in historic measures.

Tesla and Google-parent Alphabet, two of the so-called Magnificent Seven megacap companies whose shares have faltered after two years of stock leadership - are among those closely watched for financial results and investors' initial guidance outlook the furthest from tariffs that are very much in flux.

"The view of the CEOs going forward has never been more important," said JJ Kinahan, CEO of IG North America and president of online broker tastytrade.

Companies and investors are grappling with a tariff landscape poised to keep shifting as the Trump administration negotiates with other countries. While he has paused some of the heftiest levies on imports, the U.S. is also locked in a trade battle with China, the world's second-largest economy.

Economists polled by Reuters this week put odds of a recession in the next year at 45%, up from 25% last month.