Market Recap • Week 34 2025

Highlights from the week of Aug 18 - 24, 2025

New all-time highs in Europe, pullbacks in Asia, and a Friday ripper on dovish Powell speech.

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Equities

America

• 🇺🇸 S&P 500 was in the red most of the week but eked out a 0.27% gain after a 1.52% rally on Friday after Jerome Powell’s dovish speech in Jackson Hole.
• 🇺🇸 Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.88% on Friday but still ended the week with a 0.58% decline.
• 🇺🇸 Dow Jones Industrial gained 1.53% for the week and closed at a new all-time high above 45,600.
• 🇺🇸 Russell 2000 surged 3.3% for the week after a massive 3.86% jump on Friday.
• 🇨🇦 TSX also closed off the week on a high note, gaining 0.99% on Friday and 1.53% for the week. This was the 11th weekly all-time high for the index since May.
• 🇲🇽 IPC gained 1.55% for the week after a 0.96% jump on Friday, setting a new weekly closing record.
• 🇧🇷 Bovespa saw a massive 2.57% surge on Friday and closed the week with a 1.19% gain.
• 🇦🇷 Merval sat out the party and ended the week with a 3.76% loss after a very modest gain on Friday.

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Europe

• 🇪🇺 STOXX 600 gained 1.4% to its highest-ever weekly close, surpassing its previous high from February.
• 🇬🇧 FTSE 100 soared 2% for the week to a new all-time high. The index is now up more than 14% for the year.
• 🇩🇪 DAX closed virtually unchanged for the week.
• 🇫🇷 CAC 40 gained 0.58% and closed at its highest level since before Liberation Day.
• 🇩🇰 C25 surged 3.71% for the week, boosted by strong gains in Novo Nordisk, Vestas, and GN Store Nord. The index is still down 3.5% for the year though.

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Asia

• 🇯🇵 Nikkei 225 fell 1.72% after last week’s 3.73% gain and new all-time high.
• 🇨🇳 Hang Seng eked out a 0.27% gain for the week.
• 🇮🇳 Nifty 50 rose 0.97% for its second straight week of solid gains.
• 🇰🇷 KOSPI fell 1.76% but closed well off of its intraweek lows.
• 🇹🇼 TSEC dropped 2.34% for the week after nudging a new all-time high on Tuesday.

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Currencies & Commodities

• 💰 The DXY dropped 0.9% on Friday on the outlook for imminent rate cuts, closing the week with a 0.11% loss.
• 🇪🇺 USD.EUR inched lower by 0.15% this week.
• 🇩🇰 USD.DKK weakened 0.1% to 6.368 DKK.
• 🇬🇧 USD.GBP eked out a 0.25% for the week despite a big drop on Friday.
• 🇯🇵 USD.JPY declined 0.16% for the week.
• 🇨🇳 USD.CNH weakened by 0.24% for its fourth straight week of declines, albeit small ones.
• 🥇 Gold jumped 0.98% on Friday and 1.08% for the week, spurred by the outlook for a looser monetary policy in the US and associated risk of higher inflation.
• 🥈 Silver rallied 2.37% this week to its highest close since 2011.
• 🥉 Copper declined 0.29% for the week.
• 🏆 Bitcoin is trading around $116,000 as of Saturday morning (CET), down 1.3% for the week. However, it’s up almost 4% since yesterday where it traded below $112,000, rallying on the back of US rate cut expectations.
• The altcoin market is up 3.1% for the week, driven by strong gains in Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), and Binance Coin (BNB). Both ETH and BNB hit new all-time highs this week.

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Bond yields

• 🇺🇸 The US 2-year yield naturally dropped off on Friday after Powell’s speech, falling 2.43% on the day and 1.52% for the week.
• 🇺🇸 The US 10-year yield declined 1.53% this week to 4.256%.
• 🇺🇸 The US 30-year yield fell 0.91% for the week.
• 🇪🇺 The Euro 2-year yield declined 1.42% this week, slightly backing off after almost touching 2% last week.
• 🇪🇺 The Euro 10-year yield dropped 2.08% to 2.729% this week.
• 🇨🇳 The China 10-year yield rose 2.35% to 1.789%, its highest level since pre-Liberation Day.
• 🇨🇳 The China 30-year yield gained 2.16% to a new 2025 high of 2.078%.

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Other

• The VIX plummeted more than 14% on Friday and 5.77% for the week, closing at an 8-month low of 14.22.