Click Here to view today’s Global Momentum Guide The MSCI EAFE increased 1.91 percent last week, the S&P 500 Index 1.46 percent, the Dow Jones Industrial Average 1.26 percent, […]
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Market Perspective for July 27, 2025
The final full week of July was another interesting one, although scheduled news releases was limited. A massive trade deal with Japan as well as continuing his feud with Jerome Powell gave market participants something to follow this week.
Thursday saw the release of the weekly unemployment claims. Over the past seven days, there were 217,000 claims for unemployment benefits compared to an expected 221,000.
Also on Thursday, the Flash Services PMI came in at 55.2, which was higher than the projected 53 and exceeded last month’s 52.9. The Manufacturing PMI came in at 49.5, which was lower than the projected 52.7 and was lower than last month’s figure of 52.9. Ultimately, this shows the manufacturing sector is still stuck in a rut while demand for services continues to grow.
Perhaps the biggest piece of news was the announcement of a long-awaited trade deal between the United States and Japan. While the terms vary, it’s believed that Japan will face a tariff rate of 15 percent on most items with the main exception being vehicles. President Trump stated the country will also invest $550 billion into the United States. However, Japan has said that they agreed to invest $400 billion and will go as high as $550 billion.
This coming Friday paused tariffs are set to go into effect. All nations will pay at least 10 percent with others paying additional levies of up to 50 percent. Although Trump said there will be no additional delays, it’s unclear whether that statement holds up over time. Most on Wall Street believe that tariffs won’t cause a significant amount of inflation and that their long-term impacts have already been priced into the market.
It also appears Jerome Powell is staying on as Fed Chair until his term ends in May. It was Trump himself who appointed Powell in 2017, but he has been at odds with him over interest rate policies. It’s been speculated that making a change at the top of the Fed before May could cause significant market turmoil.
The S&P 500 finished the week up 1.29 percent to close at 6,388, which is an all-time high for the index. It made its low of the week on Tuesday morning when it dipped to 6,295. It would then reverse and continue to climb over the next several days before hitting a high of 6,393 on Friday.
The Dow finished the week higher by 1.13 percent to close at 44,901 at the end of trading Friday. For the week, the market dipped as low as 44,346 on Monday and peaked at 44,970 on Wednesday.
The Nasdaq closed the week .74 percent higher to close at 21,108. The index followed a similar path to the S&P making its low of the week on Tuesday before reversing and closing near its high over the past five trading days. Tuesday saw the market dip to 20,795 while the high of 21,153 came on Friday morning.
The upcoming has several important news events on the calendar. Wednesday will be an especially hectic one for traders as the ADP nonfarm payroll report comes out in the morning. That afternoon, the Fed makes its July rate decision. Advance GDP figures will also be released on Wednesday. The Core PCE Price Index is scheduled to be released on Thursday. On Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) unveils its own version of the June nonfarm payroll report.

The ETF Investor Guide for July 2025
The July Issue of the ETF Investor Guide is AVAILABLE NOW! Links to the July Data Files have been posted below. Market Perspective: Markets Brush Off Tarriff Concerns The Nasdaq […]
Global Momentum Guide for July 21, 2025
Click Here to view today’s Global Momentum Guide The Nasdaq increased 1.51 percent last week, the S&P 500 Index 0.59 percent and the Russell 2000 Index 0.23 percent. The […]

Market Perspective for July 20, 2025
There was several significant news announcements likely have an influence on monetary policy.
There was also drama between President Donald Trump and Fed Chair Jerome Powell that weighed on the markets this week. Powell has drawn Trump’s ire for failing to cut interest rates, which the president believes should be at least 300 basis points lower than they are today. Trump later came out and said that Powell would likely be replaced in eight months when his term is up.
On Tuesday, it was revealed that inflation had jumped to 2.7 percent on an annualized basis in June. This was higher than the projected 2.6 percent and higher than last month’s 2.4 percent.
It was also revealed that overall inflation was up 0.3 percent in the past month while core inflation was up 0.2 percent. Analysts had predicted that both would increase by .3 percent this month. Economists believe that inflation could continue to go higher as tariffs imposed on most nations begin on the first day of August.
Still, economic data remains strong. On Wednesday, the Price Producers Index (PPI) was released and revealed that prices were flat on a monthly basis. The same was true for the Core PPI, and it was believed that both core and overall PPI would increase by 0.2 percent in June. It’s worth noting that core PPI for May was revised upward to 0.4 percent while overall PPI was revised upward to 0.3 percent in May.
Thursday saw the release of retail and core retail sales figures for June. During that time, retail sales overall went up by 0.6 percent while core retail sales were up by .5 percent. Retail sales were only expected to increase by 0.1 percent while core retail sales were only expected to rise by 0.3 percent in June.
Also on Thursday, unemployment claims for the week were made public. Over the past seven days, there were 221,000 requests for benefits, below the expected 233,000.
On Friday, the University of Michigan released its consumer sentiment and inflation expectation reports. Consumer sentiment rose to 61.8 compared to 60.7 last month. Respondents believe that inflation will be at 4.4 percent a year from now, which was lower than last month when respondents said that inflation would be at 5 percent a year from now.
The S&P 500 finished up 57 points this week to finish at 6,296, which is just off the all-time high set on Friday morning. On Wednesday, the market made its low of the week when it dipped to 6,224.
The Dow was off by just 1.84 points this week to close at 44,342. On Wednesday morning, the index made a low of 43,912 before reversing and hitting a high of 44,536 on Thursday.
Finally, the Nasdaq finished the week up 394 points to close at 20,895. The market began the week at its lowest point, which was 20,499 and made its high of the week Friday morning when it hit 20,971.
In international news, Canada announced on Tuesday that its median CPI in June was 3.1 percent on an annualized basis. Furthermore, inflation was .1 percent on a monthly basis over the same period. Great Britain announced on Wednesday that its inflation rate was 3.6 percent on an annualized basis in June. Finally, Australia announced Wednesday evening that its economy added 2,000 jobs in June and that the country’s unemployment rate increased to 4.3 percent.
American traders will notice that the upcoming week is light on the news. The only major scheduled announcements are the Flash Manufacturing and Flash Services PMIs slated to come out Thursday. However, there will be big news coming out of Europe as the European Central Bank makes an interest rate decision on Thursday morning.