Market Recap • Week 20 2025

Highlights from the week of May 12 - 18, 2025

Equity markets took a big leg higher on the back of the tariff pause between the US and China.

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Equities

America

• 🇺🇸 S&P 500 rallied 5.27% on US-China trade deescalation and encouraging macro data.
• 🇺🇸 Nasdaq Composite surged 7.15% and is now just 5% away from reclaiming its record high.
• 🇺🇸 Dow Jones Industrial jumped 3.41% for the week.
• 🇺🇸 Russell 2000 soared 4.46% but continues to lag both the S&P and Nasdaq.
• 🇨🇦 TSX gained another 2.42% and set a new record high after six straight weeks of gains following the massive trade war plunge in early April.
• 🇲🇽 IPC rose 2.54% for the week to within striking distance of its all-time high.
• 🇧🇷 Bovespa rallied 1.96% to a new all-time high.
• 🇦🇷 Merval soared 9.65% this week but is still down for the year.

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Europe

• 🇪🇺 STOXX 600 rose 2.1% this week as the European equities continue their impressive rebound.
• 🇬🇧 FTSE 100 added another 1.52% and has now fully recovered the early-April tariff plunge.
• 🇩🇪 DAX gained 1.14% and set a new weekly record high for the second week in a row.
• 🇫🇷 CAC 40 rose 1.85% but is still a ways off of its all-time highs.
• 🇩🇰 C25 rallied 3.99% in a rare outperformance of its European peers.

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Asia

• 🇯🇵 Nikkei 225 rose 0.67% for the week.
• 🇨🇳 Hang Seng gained 2.09%, a rather modest move considering the US trade deal and corresponding move in the US equities.
• 🇨🇳 CSI 300 rose 1.12% this week.
• 🇮🇳 Nifty 50 soared 4.21% this week and appears to be back in rally mode after its multi-month correction starting in September last year.
• 🇰🇷 KOSPI gained 1.92% for the week.
• 🇹🇼 TSEC surged 4.44%, likely fuelled by the improved relationship between China and the US.

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Currencies & Commodities

• The DXY strengthened by 0.55% on the back of the improved trade situation between the US and China.
• USD.EUR gained 0.75% for the week.
• USD.DKK rose 0.79% and is back above 6.68.
• USD.GBP eked out a 0.14% gain for the week.
• USD.JPY strengthened by a modest 0.18%.
• USD.CNH weakened by 0.41% this week as China stands to benefit the most from a better trade deal with the US.
• Gold plummeted 3.75% as investors flocked into the dollar and riskier assets.
• Silver declined 1.34% for the week.
• Copper fell in line with silver, down 1.15% this week.
• Bitcoin gained 2.24% and ended the week above $106,000, its highest-ever weekly close.
• The altcoin market lagged behind Bitcoin and closed the week with a 0.76% loss. Ripple (XRP) outperformed among the majors with a 2.66% gain.

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Bond yields

• 🇺🇸 The US 2-year gained 2.67% on the back of the trade deal between the US and China.
• 🇺🇸 The US 10-year added 1.44% for the week.
• 🇪🇺 The Euro 2-year surged 4.64% to its highest yield since early April.
• 🇪🇺 The Euro 10-year rose a more modest 1.8% for the week.
• 🇨🇳 The China 10-year gained 1.95%.
• 🇨🇳 The China 30-year declined 0.89% and remains near historic lows.

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Other

• The VIX plummeted 21.28% on the continued trade war deescalation and closed the week just above 17.