S&P 500 and Nasdaq Hit New Records
Overview from BCC Invest Analysts
Analyzing the markets for the week of July 21-25, 2025, analyst Aldiyar Anuarbekov from the Analytics and Research Department at BCC Invest prepared a detailed report.
Trade Truce between USA and EU
The markets ended the week with a strong increase: S&P 500 and Nasdaq hit new records, while Dow Jones gained 1.26%. The reason behind this surge was a breakthrough in trade negotiations. The USA finalized deals with Japan, Indonesia, and the Philippines, and reached an agreement with the EU just before the August 1 deadline.
The new tariff regime (15% on most European goods) turned out to be less severe than expected, easing the risk of a trade war by 1.7 trillion tenge and boosting demand for stocks.
Investors also welcomed the rise in Alphabet’s stock (+4.38%) due to strong financial results, while Tesla (-4.12%) faced pressure following weak performance.
Seasonal Earnings Reports
The past week brought important quarterly results from representatives of ‘big-cap’ companies, including two of the Magnificent 7 — Alphabet and Tesla, as well as several firms from the financial, consumer, and industrial sectors. Overall, the data showed that corporate growth continues, but is becoming more selective and dependent on technological and service impulses.
Alphabet (GOOGL): Focus on AI Justified
The tech giant exceeded expectations in both revenue and profit, especially due to the strong growth in the cloud business and high margins in the advertising segment. Management’s comments on early monetization of AI-based products were seen as a positive signal. The stock gained +4.38% for the week, becoming one of the drivers of Nasdaq’s growth.
Tesla (TSLA): Bearish Signal
Elon Musk’s company reported weakly: revenue and profit fell short of expectations, operating margin decreased, and delivery growth was below forecasts. Consequently, the stock dropped by 4.12% and ended the week as one of the underperformers among the Mag 7.
American Express: Stable Premium Segment
Despite a slowdown in consumer spending, the premium segment, which AmEx focuses on, showed high resilience. The company reported higher-than-expected profits and announced a 7% year-on-year growth in active user portfolio. These results supported interest in the financial sector amidst expectations of regulatory burden easing.
Netflix: Subscriber Growth
The platform exceeded expectations in net user additions (over 7 million), especially from new markets, but revenue and profitability raised questions, as investors expected more progress in monetization. The stock ended the week with a moderate decline, despite good operational metrics.
Europe and Asia
European markets saw modest growth: STOXX Europe 600 gained 1.34%. The final agreement with the USA strengthened the euro, despite continued pressure on export sectors.
The ECB kept rates unchanged, with Lagarde’s rhetoric being more ‘hawkish,’ increasing expectations for a pause in rate cuts.
In Japan, Nikkei 225 (+3.09%) and TOPIX (+4.11%) rose after a trade deal with the USA and amid the Japanese government’s readiness to invest in the American economy.
In China, hopes for an extension of the tariff truce with the USA pushed the CSI 300 and Shanghai Composite indices up by almost 1.7%.
Despite geopolitical risks, Asian and European markets ended the week in the ‘green zone,’ supported by reduced volatility and a softer trade rhetoric.