| Name | Daily Close | Daily Change | Daily Change (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dow | 43,386.84 | 404.41 | 0.94% |
| S&P 500 | 6,141.02 | 48.86 | 0.80% |
| Nasdaq | 20,167.91 | 194.36 | 0.97% |
| VIX | 16.2 | -0.39 | -2.35% |
| Gold | 3,300.50 | -47.5 | -1.42% |
| Oil | 65.79 | 0.55 | 0.84% |
OVERVIEW OF THE US MARKET
Investors drove US stocks to reach all-time highs while setting aside recent geopolitical fears amid hopes that a resumption of Federal Reserve rate cuts will fuel the outloook for Corporate America. Treasury yields fell alongside the dollar.
A nearly $10 trillion surge in the S&P 500 from the edge of a bear market put the gauge briefly above its Feb. 19 closing peak of 6,144.15. The benchmark ended just shy of that mark at 6,141.02. Big tech led gains. A closely watched gauge of stock volatility – the VIX – slid to 16.59 after topping 52 at the height of April’s tariff-fueled turmoil.
As the US stock market nears a fresh all-time high, retail investors are piling into equities. The group purchased a net $3.2 billion of stocks in the five-day period through Wednesday’s close, according to data compiled by JPMorgan Chase & Co.
The Invesco S&P 500 High Beta ETF, an exchange-traded fund that tracks highly volatile stocks, is on track for its best quarter since 2020 relative to the Invesco S&P 500 Low Volatility ETF. Meanwhile, a Goldman Sachs gauge of stocks with weak balance sheets is on track for the best month relative to the S&P 500 since September.
Large-cap technology behemoths have been the main drivers of the markets in the past two years. They had a brief hiccup earlier this year when the rise of Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek raised concerns about who will dominate AI, but tech giants are back in the driver’s seat, leading the sharp recovery in the S&P 500 since the tariff selloff.
Bloomberg’s gauge of the US dollar dropped to the lowest level in three years after the Wall Street Journal reported US President Donald Trump may reveal chairman Jerome Powell’s replacement by September or October. Traders are viewing the news as a signal that early rate cuts are becoming more likely, given that Trump has repeatedly pressured Powell to lower borrowing costs.
OVERVIEW OF THE AUSTRALIAN MARKET
On 27 June 2025, the Australian share market experienced a modest decline. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index gave up its modest morning gains on Friday to finish on the lows of the day, losing 36.6 points, or 0.43 per cent, at 8,514.2. Solid gains by the mining sector were not enough to keep the Australian share market in the green, while the dollar has climbed to its highest level of 2025 against its faltering US counterpart.
The materials sector rose 2.3 per cent on Friday, its best day since a 6.3 per cent gain on April 10, as iron ore prices climbed to $94.50 a tonne. BHP advanced 3.9 per cent to $108.97, Rio Tinto gained 4.6 per cent to $108.97 and Fortescue added 3.6 per cent to $15.46. Across the banking sector, Commonwealth Bank (CBA) dipped 0.4% to $190.71, National Australia Bank (NAB) fell 0.4% to $39.89, ANZ surged 2.2% to $29.74 while Westpac edged up to $34.57.
Within Tech and Industrials, DroneShield (DRO) jumped 11.7% after announcing a major European military deal., Humm Group (HUM) rose 3.7% following a takeover offer,Neuren Pharmaceuticals (NEU) gained 6.1% after a US patent approval. Xero (XRO) dropped 5.3% after completing a $1.85 billion capital raise.
The ASX200 finished the week up 0.1 per cent after a rally on Tuesday following the Iran-Israel ceasefire. Over the week, the best performing sectors were Gold (+5.5%), Banks (+0.9%), Small Ords (+0.6%) and Tech (+0.4%). With one more day of trading left in 2024/25, the ASX200 is on track to deliver an annual return of 13.9 per cent, including dividends or 10 per cent excluding dividends. This is not a bad return for the FY given the tariff and geopolitical noise that investors had to accept in their decision making.