The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose by 1.1%. For the week, the Magnificent Seven underperformed compared to the S&P 493, with the financial sector delivering lackluster performance. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note increased by 5 basis points, while the U.S. dollar briefly fell below 99 before rebounding by 0.23% from its daily low, ultimately closing flat compared to Thursday's close. Spot gold declined by 0.7%, but still recorded a weekly gain of 2%. Silver fell by 2.4%, hovering around the $90 mark amid volatile trading. Copper prices continued their correction, with London copper dropping more than 2%, reversing earlier gains during the week.
President Trump stated in a speech at the White House on Friday that he prefers Kevin Hassett, the Chairman of the National Economic Council, to remain in his current position, hinting that Hassett may not be nominated as the next Federal Reserve Chair. Following Trump's remarks, analysts immediately speculated that Kevin Warsh had become the leading candidate for the position of the next Federal Reserve Chair.
After Trump made the aforementioned remarks, the US dollar rebounded from its intraday low and edged higher, while the stock market reversed from gains to losses. Ultimately,$Russell 2000 Index (.RUT.US)$it rose by 0.1%, outperforming the S&P 500 for the 11th consecutive trading day. For the week, the S&P 500 index recorded a slight decline of 0.4%.
Specifically:
The three major indices closed collectively lower, with the Nasdaq falling by 0.06% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average declining by 0.17%,$S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$and the S&P 500 dropping by 0.06%. On a weekly basis, the Dow fell by 0.29%, the Nasdaq declined by 0.66%, and the S&P 500 index dropped by 0.38%.
Chip stocks generally rose, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index gaining 1.15%,$Micron Technology (MU.US)$Surging over 7%,$Broadcom (AVGO.US)$、$Applied Materials (AMAT.US)$、$ASML Holding (ASML.US)$rising more than 2%. Most popular Chinese concept stocks ended lower,$NASDAQ Golden Dragon China (.HXC.US)$declining by 1.15%,$Alibaba (BABA.US)$falling more than 3%,$Bilibili (BILI.US)$, JD.com,$Li Auto (LI.US)$、$XPeng (XPEV.US)$Dropped over 1%.
Crypto mining companies strengthened, $Riot Platforms (RIOT.US)$surging 16%, after securing a multi-hundred-million-dollar data leasing deal with AMD; IREN rose over 11%, $Cipher Mining (CIFR.US)$、$Galaxy Digital (GLXY.US)$while another stock climbed over 7%. The space sector once again saw broad gains, with ASTS rising over 14% after the company confirmed its status as the prime contractor for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency's (MDA) 'SHIELD' project; PL, a Google partner, gained nearly 2%, bringing its year-to-date increase to over 45%.
Following Trump's mention of potential Fed Chair candidates, expectations for rate cuts this year further declined. Neil Dutta of Renaissance Macro Research stated:
If I had to choose between the two Kevins, I would pick Hassett over Warsh. We know that Kevin Warsh has maintained a hawkish stance throughout his career.
The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose approximately 1.1%, hitting a new all-time high during trading and significantly outperforming the broader market.$Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM.US)$Strength in equally-weighted individual stocks limited the decline in the Nasdaq. Analysts believe that, amid continued high macroeconomic uncertainty ahead of the weekend holiday, capital remains concentrated in the semiconductor supply chain, which offers the highest order and earnings visibility, rather than diffusing into broader technology or software sectors.
For the week, the Mag 7 underperformed the S&P 493, while the financial sector posted weak performance.
Following the decline in rate cut expectations, the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield rose by 5 basis points, while the policy-sensitive 2-year U.S. Treasury yield increased by approximately 3 basis points. The dollar briefly fell below 99 on Friday before rebounding 0.23% from its daily low, ultimately closing flat compared to Thursday's close.
U.S. stocks ended mixed on Friday, with the S&P 500 edging slightly lower. For the week, small-cap indices gained 2%, while the semiconductor index rose about 3.8%. The Internet ETF fell nearly 0.9%, leading declines among U.S. sector ETFs.
U.S. Equity Benchmark Indices:
On the day when Trump downplayed the possibility of Kevin Hassett becoming the Federal Reserve Chairman, the S&P 500 Index closed down by 4.46 points, or 0.06%, at 6940.01 points, marking a weekly decline of 0.38% and generally exhibiting an M-shaped trend.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 83.11 points, or 0.17%, to close at 49359.33 points, with a cumulative weekly drop of 0.29%.
The Nasdaq Composite Index closed down by 14.634 points, or 0.06%, at 23515.388 points, recording a weekly decline of 0.66%.
$NASDAQ 100 Index (.NDX.US)$The index closed down by 17.812 points, or 0.07%, at 25529.264 points, with a weekly fall of 0.92%.
The Russell 2000 Index rose by 0.12% to close at 2677.738 points, posting a weekly gain of 2.04%.
The VIX Volatility Index, often referred to as the 'fear gauge,' edged up by 0.13% to close at 15.86, with a weekly increase of 9.45%.
U.S. Sector ETFs:
The Internet Stock ETF dropped by 0.88%, the Healthcare ETF declined by 0.78%, the Technology Sector ETF rose by 0.11%, and the Energy Sector ETF climbed by 0.17%.$GTJA Allianz CSI All Share Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment ETF (512480.SH)$Up by 1%.
Mag 7:
The Mag 7 index fell by 0.30% to 204.59 points, down a cumulative 1.58% this week.
The 'mega-cap' technology stock index rose by 0.12% to 392.82 points, down a cumulative 0.54% this week.
Semiconductor stocks:
The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index closed up 1.15% at 7927.408 points, rising 3.78% cumulatively this week.
Taiwan Semiconductor ADR increased by 0.23%, and AMD rose by 1.72%.
Chinese concept stocks:
The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index closed down 1.15% at 7720.19 points, up a cumulative 0.32% this week.
Among popular Chinese stocks, Xiaomi closed down 3.5%, Alibaba fell 3%, Meituan dropped 2%, Tencent, JD.com, and Li Auto declined more than 1%,$PDD Holdings (PDD.US)$dropped by 0.6%.
Other individual stocks:
$Circle (CRCL.US)$rose by 2.69%.
European stocks rose approximately 0.8% this week, with Richemont falling about 5.4% on Friday,$Novo-Nordisk A/S (NVO.US)$while rising approximately 6.5%. The French index closed down over 0.6% on Friday, declining more than 1.2% for the week.
Pan-European Indices:
The European STOXX 600 Index closed down 0.03% at 614.38 points, with a cumulative weekly gain of 0.77%.
The Eurozone STOXX 50 Index closed down 0.19% at 6029.45 points, with a cumulative weekly gain of 0.53%.
National indices:
The German DAX 30 Index closed down 0.22% at 25297.13 points, with a cumulative weekly increase of 0.14%.
The French CAC 40 Index closed down 0.65% at 8258.94 points, with a cumulative weekly decline of 1.23%.
The UK FTSE 100 Index closed down 0.04% at 10235.29 points, with a cumulative weekly gain of 1.09%.
Sector and Stock Performance:
Among the blue-chip stocks in the Eurozone, EssilorLuxottica EL fell 3.90%, BASF SE dropped 3.67%, Deutsche Telekom declined 2.91%, while Airbus rose 1.19%, Iberdrola gained 1.53%, ASML Holding increased by 1.55%, and Siemens Energy surged 6.32%.
Among all components of the European STOXX 600 Index, Mandatum fell 5.97%, Arkema dropped 5.60%, Richemont Group declined 5.39%, ranking third in losses, while Siemens Energy ranked third in performance. Novo-Nordisk A/S gained 6.49%, and Kongsberg Gruppen surged 9.49%.
At the beginning of the week, the potential risk of conflict between the U.S. and Iran once boosted crude oil prices by 6%. However, after Trump stated on Wednesday that he would 'wait and see' how the situation in Iran develops, crude oil prices fell significantly. WTI crude oil prices retreated to above $59, still accumulating a 1% gain this week.
Crude oil:
WTI crude oil futures for February delivery settled up $0.25, or 0.42%, at $59.44 per barrel.
Brent crude oil futures for March settled at $64.13 per barrel.
Natural Gas:
NYMEX natural gas futures for February settled at $3.1030 per million British thermal units.
Looking to pick stocks or analyze them? Want to know the opportunities and risks in your portfolio? For all investment-related questions,just ask Futubull AI!
Editor/Stephen
