Jerry O’Callaghan, former chairman of JBS SA, center, speaks with a trader on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in New York, U.S., on Wednesday, June 25, 2025.
Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images
I am Spriha Srivastava, CNBC International’s executive editor for digital, and I am writing to you today from Singapore.
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Markets this week? Totally unbothered — like they’re on a beach somewhere, sipping a cold drink and ignoring the headlines.
Geopolitical tensions flared (again), oil prices plunged, and defense stocks couldn’t make up their mind — but the broader market? Barely blinked. The S&P 500 flirted with record highs, the Nasdaq kept cruising thanks to its AI darlings, and even small caps got in on the action. It’s almost as if investors looked at the chaos and said, “Meh, we’re good.”
What’s driving this chilled-out mood? Part of it is rate-cut optimism creeping back in. Oil’s sudden drop took some inflation pressure off the table, and dovish murmurs from the Fed gave traders just enough hope that September could be in play for a cut. Bond yields eased, and risk appetite returned.
Sure, there are risks everywhere — from Middle East tensions to stretched valuations in some corners of the market — but right now, Wall Street seems to be in full summer mode. Cool, calm, and slightly detached.
Will it last? Hard to say. Markets have a habit of waking up just when you least expect it. But for now, they’re tuning out the noise and catching rays.
What you need to know today
And finally…
Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange on June 23, 2025.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
How the stock market made it back to a new record — even with so much still to worry about
The S&P 500 is less than 0.1% away from closing at a new record, rebounding from a near 20% sell-off in April.
The wall of worry has been crumbling little by little over the past four months. Perhaps most importantly, as Trump backed off from the stiffest tariffs on key U.S. partners.
Corporate earnings have also held up well despite policy uncertainty. For the second quarter, the S&P 500 earnings grew by 4.9%, marking the eighth consecutive quarter of year-over-year earnings growth for the index, according to FactSet.
— Yun Li
