Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks with US President Donald Trump as they attend the North Atlantic Council plenary assembly on the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation summit in The Hague, Netherlands, on June 25, 2025.
Ludovic Marin | By way of Reuters
What a primary half of the 12 months it has been.
Within the first six months, the world noticed a (not so) new U.S. president within the Oval Workplace, mentioned president upend the worldwide commerce panorama, and a president in South Korea faraway from workplace.
Conflicts additionally broke out between India and Pakistan, in addition to Israel and Iran (together with a U.S. airstrike thrown into the combination.)
Chinese language AI startup DeepSeek made its debut, stealing ChatGPT’s thunder for some time, and elections befell world wide, together with in Germany, Australia, and even proper right here in sunny Singapore.
We would simply must name Billy Joel and get him to jot down a complete new model of “We Did not Begin the Fireplace.”
Regardless of such a rollercoaster trip to this point, market buyers, in response to most developments, appear to have adopted the U.Ok.’s mantra because it ready for battle in 1939: Preserve calm and stick with it.
If we take a longer-term view, markets have delivered a good efficiency regardless of a risky first half. Just some stats: the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite closed at recent all-time highs Monday and are up about 5% 12 months thus far.
In Europe, the Stoxx 600 is up 6.7%, and in Asia, most main markets are in optimistic territory, with Hong Kong and South Korea posting a whopping 20% achieve 12 months thus far.
Preserve calm and stick with it into the second half of the 12 months, buyers.
— Lim Hui Jie
What you have to know immediately
S&P and Nasdaq contact recent highs. On Monday, the S&P 500 gained 0.52% and posted one other report shut, ending at 6,204.95, whereas the Nasdaq Composite superior 0.47% and reached a recent all-time excessive of 20,369.73. Asia-Pacific markets traded blended Tuesday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 retreating from an 11-month excessive.
White Home claims Canada ‘caves’ on commerce. The White Home mentioned that Canada “caved” to President Donald Trump by unexpectedly rescinding its digital providers tax after the president threatened to close down commerce negotiations between the 2 main buying and selling companions.
China’s June manufacturing facility exercise unexpectedly expands. The Caixin/S&P World manufacturing buying managers’ index got here in at 50.4, increased than the Reuters estimate of 49. It additionally diverged from China’s official PMI report, which samples extra firms, principally in upstream sectors.
Elon Musk calls Trump invoice “DEBT SLAVERY.” The Tesla and SpaceX CEO is doubling down on his criticisms to kill Trump’s signature megabill. Musk additionally referred to as for a “new political occasion,” and vowed that any fiscal conservative who votes for the invoice will “lose their main subsequent 12 months.”
[PRO] Beneficiaries of NATO protection spending. With NATO members committing to a a lot increased protection spending goal, sure firms are anticipated to see enormous boosts to their backside traces – significantly these headquartered in Europe.
And eventually…
Digital illustration of a glowing world map with “AI” textual content throughout a number of continents, representing the worldwide presence and integration of synthetic intelligence.
Fotograzia | Second | Getty Photographs
