Market Highlights
Market highlights
2025-10-23
Volatility resurfaced on Wall Street in a session that saw most megacaps getting hit while gold slid
alongside cryptocurrencies. News reports saying the Trump administration is weighing restrictions
on software exports to China added to recent anxiety around trade.
Following a torrid rally, calls for a breather have emerged. The Nasdaq 100 lost 1% after a tepid
outlook from Texas Instruments Inc. and a post-earnings slump in Netflix Inc. The S&P 500 closed
slightly below 6,700 and The Russell 2000 of small caps lost 1.5%. Ahead of its results, Tesla Inc.
slipped. Traders also kept a close eye on geopolitical developments, with Treasury Secretary Scott
Bessent saying the US will ratchet up Russia sanctions.
At a time when the equity rally has slowed, the flip side is that the proportion of companies beating
earnings expectations this quarter is the highest since 2021. Most S&P 500 firmstypically top
expectations, but this season stands out considering that analysts had set the bar higher.
2025-09-24
Wall Street traders drove stocks down from all-time highs, with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome
Powell offering no hints on whether he might support a rate cut at the central bank’s October
meeting. Bonds held gains.
Following a series of records, equities took a breather amid a slide in big tech. Powell said the
outlooks for the labor market and inflation face risks, reiterating his view that policymakers likely
have a difficult road ahead as they weigh further interest-rate cuts.
US stocks are set to resume their rally as the combination of a pledge for more spending by
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and an upbeat forecast from Micron Technology Inc. reinforced
optimism over artificial intelligence.
2025-09-23
Wall Street traders defied calls for a breather after a $15 trillion stock rally from April lows, with
Nvidia Corp. boosting optimism on artificial intelligence after pledging to invest as much as $100
billion in OpenAI.
Tech led gains in the S&P 500, with the US equity benchmark hitting its 28th record this year. The
world’s largest chipmaker rallied about 4%. Its investment is intended to help OpenAI build data
centers with a capacity of 10 gigawatts of power using Nvidia’s advanced AI chips to train and
deploy OpenAI’s models.
Asian equities came off session highs, swinging between modest gains and losses after
benchmarks in Hong Kong and mainland China retreated.
2025-09-22
Wall Street closed out the highly anticipated Federal Reserve week with stocks notching fresh all-
time highs as prospects for more rate cuts bolstered the outlook for corporate earnings.
While calls for a temporary breather have emerged after an almost $15 trillion rally in the S&P 500
from its April lows, bullish sentiment has prevailed. That was after Fed officials resumed monetary
policy easing at a time when the economy is still growing, sending a constructive signal for risk
takers.
Asian shares rose following a Wall Street rally, with Japanese equities advancing after concerns
about the Bank of Japan’s plan to offload its massive exchange-traded fund holdings eased.
2025-09-19
Wall Street’s bets that Federal Reserve rate cuts will keep powering Corporate America drove
stocks to all-time highs, with traders piling into the riskier corners of the market.
A day after the Fed deployed its firstreduction this year and signaled the potential for more saw a
rally that lifted the S&P 500, the Nasdaq 100, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Russell
2000 to records. It’s the firsttime since November 2021 that all four major benchmarks closed
together at fresh highs. And it’s a rare feat too, occurring on just 25 other days this century.
A record-breaking global stock rally hit a speed bump after the Bank of Japan’s decision to begin
selling its massive exchange-traded fund holdings dragged Asian shares lower.
2025-09-18
Wall Street emerged largely unshaken from a high-stakes Federal Reserve meeting, as
policymakers delivered a well-telegraphed rate cut that elicited muted moves across markets.
The announcement was followed by Jerome Powell’s remarks, underscoring the tension between
the Fed’s two mandates that suggested “there’s no risk-free path” ahead. After briefly rising, the
S&P 500 fell by a mere 0.1%, weighed down by tech. Bonds saw small losses. It was the seventh
straight time the dollar rose on a Fed day, the longest such winning streak since 2001.
The reaction reflected a central bank striking a temperate posture — acknowledging cooling in the
labor market and signaling it will remain data-dependent amid price risks.
2025-09-17
Wall Street traders gearing up for the Federal Reserve decision refrained from making big bets as
they awaited clues on the path of rates that will shape the outlook for markets over the next few
months.
A solid reading on retail sales did little to move trading, with a rally in equities fading near a record
and bonds edging higher.
Asian stocks swung between small gains and losses ahead of the Federal Reserve’s policy decision
with investors speculating the central bank will cut interest rates for the firsttime this year.
2025-09-16
Wall Street notched fresh highs amid bets that a Federal Reserve rate cut Wednesday is a sure
thing, with traders waiting to see whether officials will validate expectations for a series of
reductions into next year.
A $14 trillion record-breaking run in US equities is heading for an inflection point, with the firstrate
cut since Donald Trump became president likely to seize the spotlight in a week that will determine
policy settings for half of the world’s 10 most-traded currencies.
Stocks climbed to fresh all-time highs, with traders set for a finalread on the American consumer a
day before the Federal Reserve’s widely expected firstinterest-rate cut of the year.
2025-09-15
Companies are moving some of the excess cash on their books into longer-term securities, betting
that rate cuts from the Federal Reserve will make these holdings more lucrative.
Firms this year have cut allocations to cash and other liquid investments, such as money market
funds, to just 27% of holdings through the end of August, on average down about 13 percentage
points compared with the end of 2022 after the Fed started hiking rates, according to investment
software firmClearwater Analytics.
At the same time, corporate allocations to US Treasury debt maturing in more than 90 days are
higher than at any point since 2018. Companies also boosted the share of corporate bond holdings
in their portfolios to a three-year high, according to the Clearwater data, which covers $1.6 trillion
in holdings from around 800 firms,most of them US-based.
2025-09-10
Stocks hit all-time highs on hopes the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates to curb a jobs
downturn, with traders gearing up for inflation data that will test the market’s conviction.
While most shares in the S&P 500 fell, the gauge rose amid gains in all big techs but Apple Inc. -
which sank 1.5% after introducing its iPhone 17, including an already expected skinnier model. In late
hours, Oracle Corp. surged after posting a huge jump in bookings. A slide in bonds halted a four-
day rally. Oil climbed after an Israeli attack in Qatar revived fears of an escalation of the conflict in
the Middle East.
US stocks are set to notch fresh highs as traders bet that a pair of inflation reports won’t derail
expectations for the Federal Reserve to resume cutting interest rates.
2025-09-09
Wall Street traders betting the Federal Reserve will cut rates drove stocks close to all-time highs
amid hopes that policy easing at a time when the economy is bending, but not breaking will power
Corporate America.
Following a slide in the aftermath of weak jobs figures, the S&P 500 bounced back. While upcoming
data is projected to show that progress on reducing inflation has stalled, traders braced for almost
three Fed cuts this year starting in September. Treasuries kept rising, with the two-year yield
remaining at the lowest level since 2022. The dollar retreated.
Global stocks climbed for a fifth day on Tuesday, as optimism around US interest-rate cuts
spread to Asia and fueled a buying spree in technology shares.
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