Market Recap

Week Ending 20th June 2025

The S&P 500 fell on Friday as investors monitored the latest developments out of the Middle East. Traders also contemplated the path of future interest rate cuts by Federal Reserve.

The broad market index declined 0.22% to end at 5,967.84. Friday marked the third consecutive losing session for the S&P 500. The Nasdaq Compositedropped 0.51% and settled at 19,447.41. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ticked up 35.16 points, or 0.08%, closing at 42,206.82.

Chip stocks came under pressure following a report by The Wall Street Journal that the U.S. may revoke waivers for some semiconductor manufacturers. Nvidia was down more than 1%, while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing slid nearly 2%. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) was lower by nearly 1%.

The S&P 500 started off the trading session higher after Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said that the central bank could cut rates as early as July. “I think we’re in the position that we could do this and as early as July,” Waller said during a “Squawk Box” interview.

“That would be my view, whether the committee would go along with it or not,” he added.

This comes after Fed Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday the central bank was in no hurry to cut benchmark rates and will remain data dependent, especially as it remains unclear how President Donald Trump’s tariffs will impact the economy. The S&P 500 closed slightly lower that day following those remarks.

Trump ripped into Powell again Thursday, saying the Fed Chair is costing the U.S. “hundreds of billions of dollars” by delaying rate cuts. The president said ahead of the Fed’s decision Wednesday that “stupid” Powell “probably won’t cut” rates.

Tensions around the Israel-Iran conflict also remained high, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reportedly ordering Jerusalem’s military to strike “strategic targets” in Iran, as well as “government targets.”

MEANWHILE… European stock markets finished off the week in mixed fashion, finishing on opposite sides of the unchanged line on Friday.
The markets opened higher on Friday, with Germany and France remaining in the green throughout the session, while London slipped into the red by the end of the day.

The positive sentiment got a boost after the White House said President Donald Trump sees a ‘substantial chance of negotiations’ and would decide within two weeks whether to authorize a direct U.S. military strike on Iran.

Germany’s DAX jumped 293.17 points or 1.27 percent to finish at 23,350.55, while the FTSE in London slipped 17.15 points or 0.20 percent to close at 8,774.65 and the CAC 40 in France added 36.21 points or 0.48 percent to end at 7,589.66.

In Germany, Airbus surged 3.56 percent, while E.ON spiked 2.60 percent, Heidelberg Materials rallied 2.36 percent, Vonovia jumped 1.17 percent, Siemens Energy climbed 1.04 percent, Deutsche Post advanced 0.99 percent, Deutsche Bank collected 0.82 percent, Deutsche Telekom gained 0.30 percent and BASF rose 0.07 percent.

In London, Rentokil soared 1.54 percent, while Spirax Group stumbled 1.45 percent, Rolls-Royce Holdings rallied 1.36 percent, Schroders strengthened 1.11 percent, Airtel Africa dropped 1.05 percent, BAE Systems shed 0.73 percent, Shell and easyJet both lost 0.69 percent, British American Tobacco fell 0.49 percent and Centrica rose 0.30 percent.

In France, Airbus surged 3.55 percent, while Worldline stumbled 2.80 percent, Vivendi rallied 1.05 percent, Carrefour improved 0.91 percent, Societe Generale collected 0.53 percent, Credit Agricole added 0.48 percent, BNP Paribas sank 0.46 percent, Engie gained 0.15 percent and Sanofi rose 0.12 percent.

In economic releases, U.K. retail sales fell 2.7 percent on a monthly basis in May, in contrast to the revised 1.3 percent increase in April, according to data from the Office for National Statistics. Sales were forecast to drop 0.5 percent.

Separate set of data revealed that U.K. public sector net borrowing increased in May despite an increase in government receipts. Borrowing increased GBP 0.7 billion from the last year to GBP 17.7 billion.

Elsewhere, German producer prices slid 1.2 percent year-on-year in May, bigger than the 0.9 percent fall in April, Destatis reported. This was the biggest fall since September, when prices were down 1.4 percent.

Euro area consumer sentiment deteriorated unexpectedly in June following a spike in the previous month, the European Commission survey said on Friday, amid the increased uncertainty due to trade tariffs and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. The flash consumer confidence index for Eurozone fell to -15.3 from a revised -15.1 in May. Economists had forecast an improvement to -15.0 from the original May reading of -15.2.