Corporate earnings take center stage amid tariff turmoil: What to know this week

Stocks ended the week higher after a turbulent week of fresh tariff headlines driving the market action.

But even after the S&P 500's (^GSPC) best week in over a year, the benchmark index is still down 6% since President Trump's April 2 tariff announcement. Meanwhile the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) and Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) are off roughly 5% in the same period.

In the week ahead, any incremental news on tariffs will be in focus. On Saturday news of exemptions on tariffs to China spread. Key products such as smartphones, laptop computers, hard drives and computer processors and memory chips were believed to not be subject to the tariffs, providing a potential boost to tech giants Apple (AAPL) and Nvidia (NVDA).

But on Sunday, Trump disputed that report, saying there was no tariff exemption announced on Friday. He wrote on Truth Social that those products are "subject to the existing 20% Fentanyl Tariffs, and they are just moving to a different Tariff 'bucket."'

"We are taking a look at Semiconductors and the WHOLE ELECTRONICS SUPPLY CHAIN in the upcoming National Security Tariff Investigations," Trump wrote.

Quarterly financial reports from a slew of American corporates will also be top of mind for investors. Goldman Sachs (GS), Bank of America (BAC), Citi (C), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM), and Netflix (NFLX) are expected to provide updates.

On the economic data front, investors will be closely tracking an update on monthly retail sales for March due out on Wednesday.

Markets will be closed on Friday for Good Friday.

Last Wednesday, Trump announced a 90-day pause on many "reciprocal" tariffs. Markets soared with the Nasdaq Composite rising over 12% for its second-best day on record.

A day later, the White House confirmed that the total tariffs on China will now be 145% when accounting for the previous 20% duties already in place. The news came as a surprise to the market as President Trump had posted on Truth Social on Wednesday that the tariff rate charged to China would be 125%. The Nasdaq tumbled 4.3% in reaction.

Overall, the estimated effective tariff rate has moved from 22.5% on April 2 to 27% after the latest China levies, per the Yale Budget Lab.

Read more: What Trump's tariffs mean for the economy and your wallet

With the US's exact landing spot on tariffs remaining a moving target, Wall Street strategists believe that recent developments show tariff uncertainty will remain a key driver of market action in the weeks ahead.