Weekly Market Overview:
June 23-27
June 23-27
The US stock market closed Monday's trading higher. At closing time on the New York Stock Exchange, the Dow Jones index rose 0.89%, the S&P 500 index rose 0.96%, and the NASDAQ Composite index rose 0.94%. Treasury 10-year yields decreased 6 basis points to 4.32%. Gold futures rose 0.27% to $3395. Crude oil Brent futures fell 7.18% to $71.48. Of the 11 S&P sectors 2 ended in the red. Energy was the weakest, while Consumer Cyclical topped the gainers.
Shares rally, oil slumps as Trump announces Iran-Israel ceasefire. Global shares rallied and the dollar extended declines on Tuesday after U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran and Israel had agreed to a ceasefire, sending oil prices into a deep dive as concerns over supply disruptions ebbed. Oil prices fell over 3%, having already slid 9% on Monday when Iran made a token retaliation against a U.S. base, which came to nothing and signalled it was done for now.
JPMorgan Sees Asian Tech Stocks Gaining Another 15-20% This Year. AI will continue to lead this upcycle on the growth in datacenter capex in 2025 and more confidence in 2026 growth. “We are not advising any meaningful rotation away from AI stocks in the next three months and would prefer” to stick with the winners. JPMorgan’s top stock picks include the region’s largest chipmakers, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., SK Hynix Inc., Advantest Corp and Delta Electronics Inc. Those shares should continue their upward momentum in the next 12 months, as demand is not an issue and earnings will continue to be revised up, they wrote.
Oman to introduce income tax first among GCC countries. Oman will establish an income tax with a rate of 5% from 2028, which will affect 1% of citizens whose annual income exceeds 42 thousand rials ($109 thousand). The authorities want to diversify the sources of state revenues and reduce dependence on oil.
Dutch company to invest $62.6 million in medicine production in Kazakhstan. The enterprise’s production capacity is expected to increase by 2 billion items of medicine annually, to be released under the SANTO Member of Polpharma Group trademark. The expansion is also expected to create 300 new jobs. Polpharma Group has already invested more than $130 million in Shymkent’s Chimpharm. With the upcoming expansion, the total investment volume will exceed $192 million.
EFG Hermes KSA Announces Expansion of Product Offerings with the Introduction of Securities Borrowing and Lending Services. The SBL service enables hedge funds and institutional investors to effectively implement arbitrage and risk-hedging strategies. Institutional investors, pension funds, and asset managers can generate passive income by lending idle securities without liquidating their positions.
The US stock market closed Wednesday's trading with mixed results. At closing time on the New York Stock Exchange, the Dow Jones index fell 0.25%, the S&P 500 index has not changed, and the NASDAQ Composite index rose 0.31%. Treasury 10-year yields remained at 4.29%. Gold futures rose 0.28% to $3343. Crude oil Brent futures rose 0.80% to $67.68. Of the 11 S&P sectors 9 ended in the red. Real Estate was the weakest, while Technology topped the gainers.
Oil rises as draw in US crude stocks signals firm demand. Both benchmarks climbed nearly 1% on Wednesday, recovering from early-week losses after data showed resilient U.S. demand. "Some buyers are favouring solid demand indicated by falling inventories in U.S. weekly statistics," said Yuki Takashima, economist at Nomura Securities. "But investors remain nervous, seeking clarity on the status of the Iran-Israel ceasefire," he said, adding that market attention is now shifting to OPEC+ production levels.
China Opens First Offshore Gold Vault and Contracts in Hong Kong. The Shanghai Gold Exchange has expanded outside mainland China for the first time, with the roll out of two new contracts and a bullion vault in Hong Kong. Trading will be conducted in yuan and settled by cash or physical delivery. The two contracts covering different purity levels will debut on Thursday. To attract traders, the exchange said it’ll waive fees at the vault through the end of the year. The SGE was established in 2002 by the People’s Bank of China as the country’s primary platform for trading bullion.
The creators of the first A7A5 ruble-denominated stablecoins have reported the appearance of counterfeits. The developers warn about the need to check the addresses of smart contracts before any operations. The real A7A5 token exists exclusively on the Ethereum and Tron blockchains. The appearance of the fake coins coincided with the publication of a Financial Times investigation into how Russian companies spent $9.3 billion through the Grinex crypto exchange using the original A7A5 stablecoin to circumvent Western sanctions. A7A5 is positioned as the first token pegged to the Russian ruble and was launched in Kyrgyzstan in February this year. The token is backed by ruble deposits in PSB, a bank hit by US, UK and EU sanctions.
South Korean financiers obtain banking license in Kazakhstan. The new bank will focus on providing products and services to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). By 2027, the bank also plans to expand its operations to other CIS countries. For now, however, its priority will be transforming its current microfinance operations into a full-fledged bank. The license for BNK Commercial Bank is the first banking license issued since 2010. Since 2014, BNK Capital has been expanding its financial network in key Southeast Asian countries. It has successfully entered markets in Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, offering microcredit products.
The US stock market closed Thursday's trading higher. At closing time on the New York Stock Exchange, the Dow Jones index rose 0.94%, the S&P 500 index rose 0.80%, and the NASDAQ Composite index rose 0.97%. Treasury 10-year yields decreased 4 basis points to 4.25%. Gold futures rose 0.15% to $3348. Crude oil Brent futures rose 0.07% to $67.73. Of the 11 S&P sectors 2 ended in the red. Consumer Defensive was the weakest, while Basic Materials topped the gainers.
Shares rally but dollar weakens with Fed independence seen under threat. Asia shares hit their highest level in more than three years on Friday as they tracked a Wall Street rally, though the dollar struggled on concerns about the Federal Reserve's independence and expectations for early rate cuts.
Mystery $33 Billion Chinese Medical Fortune Collapses In Days. The firm, a Nasdaq-listed, Cayman Islands-incorporated traditional Chinese medicine company whose shares exploded 82,000% higher and suddenly made Au, its chief executive officer with an 86% stake, richer on paper than some of the city’s tycoons like Li Ka-shing. While monitoring for wild price swings used to be done manually, the SEC and Finra now have programs to automatically detect market anomalies, according to Erik Gordon. They can also compel companies to share if they know why their stock price soared or crashed or whether insiders cashed in at the peak.
The share of states in global capital has shown the fastest growth in 15 years. According to World Inequality Database calculations, in 2023 the sum of net assets (NAV) of states reached $67.9 trillion or 12.2% of all global wealth. The 1 p.p. increase in the share of states in assets over two years was one of the fastest changes in the indicator over the last 30 years. The last time the indicator grew sharply was in 2005-2008, when the share of assets owned by governments rose from 13% to 15% in three years. About a quarter of all private assets are in the U.S. - $139.6 trillion in 2023. More than half of all government assets, in turn, belong to China - $38.4 trillion. At the same time, the U.S. has a negative indicator, -$7.1 trillion.
German building giant to construct multi-million-dollar plant in Kazakhstan. Knauf, a Germany-based manufacturer of building materials, is set to establish a $30.5 million dry gypsum mix production plant in Kazakhstan’s Zhambyl region. In 2024, Knauf Gruppe, GP Günter Papenburg AG, Roxtec and the German Institute for Technologies and Economics of Lithium (ITEL) formed a consortium to explore and produce lithium in Kazakhstan.
The US stock market closed Friday's trading higher. At closing time on the New York Stock Exchange, the Dow Jones index rose 1.00%, the S&P 500 index rose 0.52%, and the NASDAQ Composite index rose 0.52%. Treasury 10-year yields increased 3 basis points to 4.28%. Gold futures fell 1.80% to $3288. Crude oil Brent futures rose 0.06% to $67.77. Of the 11 S&P sectors 3 ended in the red. Basic Materials was the weakest, while Consumer Cyclical topped the gainers.
World economy faces 'pivotal moment', central bank body BIS says. Outgoing head of the BIS, often dubbed the central bankers' central bank, Agustín Carstens, said the U.S.-driven trade war and other policy shifts were fraying the long-established economic order. He said the global economy was at a "pivotal moment", entering a "new era of heightened uncertainty and unpredictability", which was testing public trust in institutions, including central banks.
Zijin to Buy Kazakhstan Gold Mine Project for $1.2 Billion. The gold and copper producer agreed to purchase the Raygorodok Gold Mine project for $1.2 billion, Zijin Mining said in a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. If it proceeds, it will be the miner’s biggest acquisition in six years.
Trump Considers Naming Next Fed Chair Early in Bid to Undermine Powell. Because the new chair wouldn’t take office until next May, announcing the pick this summer or fall would be far earlier than the traditional three-to-four month transition period. An early announcement could allow the chair-in-waiting to influence investor expectations about the likely path for rates, like a backseat driver, attempting to steer monetary policy before Powell’s term ends. When asked if Trump was entertaining an earlier Fed chair announcement, the White House said the Fed should pursue a growth-oriented monetary policy.
Millennials are more likely than other generations to save for a home purchase. Among citizens who regularly save money to buy an apartment or for a down payment on a mortgage loan, 58% are Millennials, according to the survey results. This generation of citizens is more likely to choose to keep their money in escrow. At the same time, of the citizens who belong to Generation X, only 25% use earmarked deposits, and only 13% among the Zoomers.
Stanford presents new business case on Freedom Holding Corp. of Timur Turlov. A new case study titled «Freedom Holding: Building an Ecosystem as a Path to Scale» has been released at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Designed for MBA students, the case study reviews Freedom’s strategy, business model, management decisions, listing on NASDAQ, internal transformation, IT product launches and the development of its corporate ecosystem.