News Recap • Week 25 2025

Check the news below and make sure to visit my latest Market Recap as well.

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Macro

• The US entered the war between Israel and Iran on Saturday when it carried out three successful attacks on nuclear sites in Iran. While the US stated that it wanted to reach a diplomatic solution after the attack, it was seen as a major escalation by the Iranian administration. The crypto market immediately went lower on the news with Bitcoin dropping from $104,000 to $99,000 on Sunday. (CNBC)
• The US Federal Reserve kept rates unchanged at 4.25% to 4.50%, exactly as expected. The committee simultaneously updated its “dot plot” which still indicates two rate cuts are on the table for 2025. For now, however, the Fed points to high uncertainty related to trade policy and risks to both sides of its mandate as reasons to stay in wait-and-see mode. (CNBC)
• Fed Governor Christopher Waller said on Friday that the central bank could still decide to cut rates already in July, even though the interest market is currently assigning just a 10% probability to that. (CNBC)
• China’s retail sales jumped 6.4% in May from a year earlier. It was a strong improvement from 5.1% in April and well ahead of analysts’ 5% forecast. It was also the fastest growth rate since 2023. Industrial output, however, rose slightly less than expected at 5.8% year-over-year. (CNBC)
• China’s new home prices fell 0.2% in May, equating to a 3.5% decline year-over-year. This extended a two-year long stagnation for the struggling Chinese property market, despite recent policy support measures. (Reuters)
• Retail sales in the US fell 0.9% in May following a 0.1% decline in April and coming in worse than the 0.6% drop expected. Sales rose 3.3% from a year ago though. (CNBC)
• Homebuilder sentiment fell from 34 in May to 32 in June. The index has only seen a lower reading twice since 2012. (CNBC)
• The US Senate passed the GENIUS stablecoin bill in one of the largest-ever legislative wins for the crypto industry. (CNBC)
• The Bank of England held rates steady at 4.25%, as expected. Three of the nine committee members voted for a 25 basispoint cut, however. (CNBC)
• UK inflation came in at 3.4% in May, in line with expectations and unchanged from April. (CNBC)
• The US and UK formally announced a trade deal this week, although steel imports remain unresolved. (Reuters)
• Japan’s headline inflation came in at 3.5% in May, slightly down from 3.6% in April. Core inflation hit 3.3%, the highest level since 2023. Rice price in Japan have more than doubled from a year ago. (CNBC)
• Japan exports fell 1.7% year-over-year in May, a big reversal from the 2% gain in April. And although it wasn’t nearly as bad as the 3.8% decline forecasted, it was still the largest drop in eight months. (CNBC)

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Other

• Meta announced that it will finally bring ads to WhatsApp, the messaging app it bought for $19 billion in 2014. (CNBC)
• Meta reportedly tried to acquire Safe Superintelligence, the AI startup launched by OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever, earlier this year. (CNBC)
• Trump Media has filed for approval by the SEC to launch a Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF. (Reuters)
• OpenAI secured a $200 million US defense contract. (CNBC)
• The Trump Organization unveiled a mobile phone plan and a $499 smartphone set to launch later this year. (CNBC)
• Coinbase is seeking approval from the SEC to offer blockchain-based stocks. (Reuters)
• The crypto platform Tron agreed to go public through a reverse merger with Nasdaq-listed SRM Entertainment. (Reuters)
• Elon Musk’s xAI is in talks to raise $4.3 billion through an equity investment. (Reuters)
• Apple shareholders have sued the company for overstating its AI progress at the 2024 World Wide Developers Conference. (Reuters)