What happened last week…
Back-to-back weekly gains were achieved for each of the three major indices with performances as follows: DJIA (1.74%), S&P 500 (0.94%), NASDAQ (0.81%). Year-to-date performances are: DJIA (5.65%), S&P 500 (9.66%), NASDAQ (11.97%).
The United States and China extended theirtrade trucefor another 90 days. The White House’s announcement said both countries “have engaged in multiple rounds of productive negotiations to address trade reciprocity and national security concerns.” Elsewhere on trade,Nvidia(NVDA) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) will each pay 15% of chip sales in China to the United States government in exchange for export licenses to sell those semiconductors. Also, President Donald Trump said he would consider letting Nvidia sell a less capable version of its most advanced chip, Blackwell, to China. Currently, Blackwell chips are not allowed to be sold in China.
There are reportedly11 candidatesto replace Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell once his term ends next May. According to CNBC, three new names added to the list include former Fed Governor Larry Lindsey, Jefferies Chief Market Strategist David Zervos, and Rick Rieder, BlackRock Chief Investment Officer of Global Fixed Income. Other candidates include Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman, former St. Louis Fed President James Bullard, Director of the National Economic Council Kevin Hassett, Fed Vice Chair Philip Jefferson, Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan, Marc Sumerlin, an economic advisor in the Bush administration, Fed Governor Chris Waller, and former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh.
US retail sales rose in July, boosted by car sales showing that the consumer is still confident in the current economy. According tocensus.gov, "advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for July 2025, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, were $726.3 billion, up 0.5 percent (±0.4 percent) from the previous month, and up 3.9 percent (±0.5 percent) from July 2024."
Theinflation rateyear-over-year for July was better than expected (2.8%) as it remained at 2.7%. Meanwhile, thecore inflation rateyear-over-year for July was 3.1%.
Happening this week…
On Thursday,existing home salesfor July are expected to be 3.92 million.
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- The Rockline Team
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