Weekly Market Review: 21st July 2025

In the US, equity markets were largely steady last week. In corporate developments, NVIDIA—having recently surpassed $4 trillion in market capitalisation—announced it would begin selling its H20 semiconductor chips to China once again. This decision follows a White House reversal on its earlier move to halt the sale of certain advanced chips to China. The H20 chip was specifically designed to comply with US export regulations regarding chip quality for the Chinese market. Elsewhere, Google has agreed a $3 billion deal with Brookfield that will give the tech giant access to hydroelectric power, helping to meet its surging energy demands. The agreement includes two 20-year power purchase plans—the longest of their kind for hydropower—which could provide Google with access to up to 3 gigawatts of renewable energy over the period. Brookfield continues to bet on renewables as a long-term energy source, having acquired National Grid’s onshore renewables business in the US for $1.7 billion in February. Apollo, one of Wall Street’s largest investment firms, is reportedly in talks to acquire a stake in Atlético Madrid, the third-largest football club in Spain. Earnings also returned to focus last week, with the first major US corporate results primarily from the financial sector. JPMorgan Chase, the largest US bank by assets, was among the key names reporting. It posted revenues of $44.9 billion and profits of $15 billion—17% lower than the same period in 2024. However, this decline was due to an $8 billion windfall received last year from its stake in Visa. Excluding that one-off item, the results were strong: trading revenues rose 15% to $8.9 billion, while investment banking fees increased 7% to $2.5 billion. Alongside JPMorgan, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley also reported positive earnings, with fees from equity, fixed income, commodities, and currency trading outperforming and in some cases reaching all-time highs. Investor sentiment towards US tech stocks remained bullish, with allocations to the sector increasing at the fastest pace in 16 years. Between April and June, inflows surged by the largest amount since March 2009. For the week, the S&P 500 and NASDAQ closed 0.92% and 1.93% higher respectively.

In Europe, equity markets rose last week, even as uncertainty persisted over the potential 30% tariffs recently announced by President Trump. The proposed levy represents a 10 percentage point increase on the original tariffs imposed on the EU during “Liberation Day”. Corporate earnings season also began in Europe, with ASML’s results drawing significant attention due to the company’s heavy weighting in the Eurostoxx 50 index. The Dutch-based chipmaker reported a positive quarter, but declined to forecast growth for 2026, citing geopolitical uncertainty and tariff-related headwinds. Shares dropped over 6% on Wednesday in response. ABB, the Swiss engineering group, reported its highest-ever quarterly order intake, fuelled by strong demand for products used in US data centres. For the week, the Eurostoxx 50 and STOXX 600 closed 0.11% and 0.20% higher respectively.

In the UK, the FTSE 100 briefly passed the 9,000 mark last week, reaching an all-time high, supported by strength in heavyweight commodity and defence stocks. On the economic front, inflation rose to 3.6% in June, while retail sales posted a year-on-year increase of 2.7%, significantly ahead of market expectations of just 0.2%. For the week, the FTSE 100 closed slightly higher, up 0.12% despite the higher inflation print for June.