Weekly Market Commentary

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Week of Jun. 23 through Jun. 27, 2025

The S&P 500 index rose 3.4% this week to new highs, led by the communication services and technology sectors.

The S&P 500 ended Friday's session at a record closing high of 6,173.10. The market benchmark also recorded a fresh intraday high during Friday's session at 6,187.68. With just one trading session remaining in June, the S&P 500 is now up 4.4% for the month and 5% for the year.

The gains came as the US and China confirmed details of a trade framework that would allow exports of rare earths and ease technology curbs. Under the agreement, Beijing will reportedly review and approve export applications for items subject to export control rules, while Washington will cancel various restrictive measures against China.

The US is also hopeful of wrapping trade discussions with more than 12 countries by the start of September, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday, citing Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

US stocks still pared some of their gains Friday afternoon after US President Donald Trump said the US was terminating trade discussions with Canada.

"These are very complex negotiations and we are going to continue them in the best interests of Canadians," Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said.

Communication services had the largest weekly increase, up 6.2%, followed by a 4.7% climb in technology and a 4.4% rise in consumer discretionary. Financials, industrials, materials, health care, utilities and consumer staples also edged higher.

The top gainers in communication services included shares of Facebook parent Meta Platforms (META), which rose 7.5% on the week. A Bloomberg report said the company is in advanced talks to acquire PlayAI, a startup using artificial intelligence to replicate voices. Separately, a Wall Street Journal report said Meta has hired three OpenAI researchers for its advanced artificial intelligence efforts. Also, UBS raised its price target on Meta stock to $812 from $683 while saying Meta faces less exposure to a potential slowdown in enterprise artificial intelligence spending because it primarily relies on its own AI technology.

In the technology sector, best performers included Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), which rose 12% as CFRA Research upgraded its investment rating on the stock to strong buy from buy and lifted its price target to $165 per share from $125.

Nike (NKE) shares led the consumer discretionary sector's climb as the athletic footwear and apparel company reported smaller-than-expected declines in fiscal Q4 earnings and sales. Its shares rose 20% as the company also pointed to plans to mitigate $1 billion in tariff related costs.

Just two sectors were in the red for the week: Energy fell 3.5% and real estate shed 0.8%.

The energy sector's drop came as crude oil futures also fell on the week amid continued turmoil in the Middle East. Decliners included shares of Halliburton (HAL), down 7.7%, and APA Corp. (APA), down 7.1%.

Next week will be an abbreviated trading week, with the US stock market closing several hours early Thursday and remaining closed on Friday for Independence Day.

However, investors will be watching closely on Thursday as the Labor Department releases its June employment report. Other data next week will include May construction spending on Tuesday and May factory orders on Thursday.

Provided by MT Newswires.