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Real-time News
Goldman Sachs stated on Tuesday, April 7th, that technology stocks, including US stocks, appear cheap after a prolonged period of underperformance, creating potential entry opportunities for investors. "Weve witnessed one of the weakest periods of relative returns for the technology sector in 50 years," the company said. Multiple factors have contributed to the overall weakness of the technology sector since 2025, prompting investors to shift towards value stocks. These factors include the launch of DeepSeek, massive capital expenditures by US mega-corporations, and the disruptive impact of AI-driven software. These factors have provided opportunities for investors to enter the sector, which currently exhibits strong growth but low valuations. The valuation premium for US mega-corporations has declined and is now almost in line with other parts of the sector. Globally, the IT sectors price-to-earnings ratio is lower than that of the consumer discretionary, consumer staples, and industrial sectors. Goldman Sachs noted that despite the low valuations, the technology sectors earnings performance remains strong. Among the S&P 500 sectors, the market consensus is that the IT sectors Q1 earnings per share will grow by 44%, accounting for 87% of the indexs earnings per share growth.On April 7th, local time, the Japanese House of Councillors voted on the budget bill for fiscal year 2026 (April 2026 to March 2027) in a plenary session. The budget bill passed with a majority vote. The budget bill for fiscal year 2026 was passed by the House of Representatives on March 13th and subsequently submitted to the House of Councillors for deliberation. According to Japanese sources, the total size of Japans 2026 budget bill exceeds 122 trillion yen, a record high. Among them, the defense budget has exceeded 9 trillion yen for the first time, also setting a new record.On April 7th, analysts at First Abu Dhabi Bank stated in a report that the strength of oil prices has been and will continue to be (at least in the short term) a more structural driver of inflationary pressures. The analysts pointed out that inflationary pressures have led to a sell-off in interest rates as expectations of central bank rate cuts have faded. Previously, the market had anticipated two to three rate cuts by the Federal Reserve this year, but these expectations have been ruled out. LSEG data shows that the money market currently expects US policy rates to remain largely unchanged in 2026, with a very slight tightening bias. The market has even priced in a more hawkish rate hike scenario by the European Central Bank and the Bank of England by the end of this year, with increases of 74 basis points and 56 basis points respectively, "largely a result of imported energy inflation in Europe."Air India has announced an increase in its fuel surcharge due to a sharp rise in global jet fuel prices.The Bank of Italy lowered its 2026 economic growth forecast to 0.4% from 0.7% at the end of January, and its 2027 forecast to 0.6% from 0.9%.
