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- 5. August 2025
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Global Markets Sunday News
No customs break in August
At the end of the week, European financial centers lost significant ground. This was due to weak quarterly results from companies and the tariffs announced by the White House (35% for Canada, 50% for Brazil, 39% for Switzerland, etc.). The new tariffs are set to take effect in a week, so there is still time for negotiations as usual, and the indices are likely to remain volatile for the time being. August therefore promises to be a turbulent month.
Tops of the week
Casino +17.33%: The food retailer appears to have weathered the worst. Quarterly figures exceeded expectations across the board, with Monoprix making a particularly strong contribution. The fundamentals are therefore back on track.
ArgenX +15.91%: The Belgian biotech company almost doubled its revenue and increased its net profit from EUR 29 million to EUR 245 million compared to the previous year. ArgenX aims to bring five drug candidates into Phase III clinical trials by 2030.
Carvana +10.74%: The used car dealer continued its comeback and reached a new all-time high. The company has exceeded its already ambitious expectations. Its potential growth drivers continue to benefit its valuation.
Roblox +5.23%: The platform surpassed the threshold of 100 million active users per day for the first time. Now, however, it is important to appeal to an older audience that is more inclined to spend money. The time spent on the platform and spending per user have increased significantly.
BBVA +10.17%: The major Spanish bank aims to further increase its profits and shareholder value in the period 2025-2028.
Danone +8.57%: Thanks to high demand for infant milk and medical nutrition in China, the group exceeded expectations in the second quarter.
Rolls-Royce +8.98%: The British aerospace engineering group raised its profit forecast for the fiscal year on Thursday. The company was able to increase profitability due to the extended service life of its engines.
Société Générale +6.01%: The bank raised its forecast for 2025 as a result of the recovery in its retail banking business.
Meta +5.24%: Despite higher capital expenditure in 2025, Meta exceeded Wall Street expectations and revised its targets upward. AI integration is also likely to boost advertising revenue.
Microsoft +2.02%: With the first-ever disclosure of Azure’s annual revenue, the Redmond giant took the market by storm. Revenue rose 39% year-on-year to $75 billion. Growth is being driven by AI solutions, partnerships with OpenAI, xAI, Meta, and Mistral, and the expansion of Copilot. The company briefly exceeded the $4 trillion market capitalization threshold.
Flops of the week
Align -33.59%: The leading provider of Invisalign dental aligners has withdrawn its forecast of annual growth of 3.5-5.5%. This means that the current fiscal year will be the fifth year without growth. Demand is declining as patients are postponing elective treatments in light of the current complex economic environment. Align is preparing a restructuring plan that includes job cuts, increased automation, and more regionalized manufacturing to reduce costs and limit the impact of tariffs.
Novo Nordisk -31.7%: After the Danish pharmaceutical company lowered its outlook for the second time in a few months, its shares went into a tailspin. The balance of the duopoly with Eli Lilly is currently shifting toward the US company, as its drugs Zepbound and Mounjaro are proving more effective than Wegovy and Ozempic. The market is also concerned about the expiry of patent protection for semaglutide in 2026, increasing drug counterfeiting, and a possible tightening of the political framework in the US. The only ray of hope is that the company has received FDA approval for Alhemo, which is designed to prevent or reduce the frequency of bleeding episodes.
Teleperformance -23.93%: Following weak growth, a 14% drop in net income and prevailing pessimism about the impact of investments in artificial intelligence, the call center service provider’s shares were severely punished.
UPS -18.4%: The parcel delivery service provider published quarterly figures that were slightly below expectations. The company still does not want to give a forecast for the year as a whole. Trade tensions with China, the end of duty-free imports for small parcels and the decline in Amazon volumes (-34.8% in May/June) are putting UPS under severe pressure. Only the international segment is still bucking the trend. As a countermeasure, the company is accelerating its restructuring with site closures and massive job cuts in an extremely uncertain macroeconomic environment.
Adidas -15.93%: Despite a solid first half and reaffirmed full-year targets, management is sticking to its cautious outlook for the coming months. The sports equipment manufacturer expects a more difficult second half of the year, as two unfavorable effects are likely to come into play: firstly, the expected imposition of US tariffs on products manufactured in Vietnam and Indonesia (the two main production countries) and, secondly, a negative currency effect of around EUR 300 million.
Ferrari -13.97%: The Italian luxury car brand was hit hard after announcing its half-year figures. Sales fell slightly short of market estimates by 1%, but the order books are still full for the next two years. The annual targets were not raised, but this reflects Ferrari’s usual conservative assessment. However, the company does have levers at its disposal to manage growth, including accelerated deliveries of limited series and targeted price increases. The company operates in a market segment that is not dependent on the economic cycle and is preparing to launch new models next year.
Amazon -7.21%: Unlike its competitors Microsoft and Alphabet, Amazon’s cloud business growth fell short of expectations in the past quarter. As a result, the stock went downhill.
Commodities
Energy: Oil prices rose again this week, with two upcoming events firmly in focus: the next OPEC meeting and Trump’s ultimatum to Russia. The oil cartel is meeting this weekend to set an upper limit for the planned increase in production in September. Market participants expect OPEC+ to increase its supply by 548,000 barrels per day. In addition, US President Trump has given Russia a ten-day deadline for a ceasefire in Ukraine. Otherwise, he is threatening new sanctions and massive punitive tariffs of up to 100% against trading partners that import Russian oil. Indian refineries in particular are concerned about the possibility of continuing to buy Russian oil in the future. However, this could be replaced by oil from the Middle East, which should allay fears of a potential oil shortage in Asia. Brent crude rose to USD 71.65, while the US benchmark WTI traded at USD 69.40 per barrel.
Metals: Sometimes things turn out differently. The US tariffs of 50% do not apply to copper, but to semi-finished products. Imports of refined copper will therefore be spared for the time being. This led to a correction in prices in London, where the spot price for a ton of copper fell to USD 9,611. Gold rose to USD 3,350 and benefited from a decline in bond yields at the end of the week. The latest US labor market data is fueling hopes of an interest rate cut in the US in September. This also explains the positive performance of the gold price.
Agricultural products: The mood in Chicago is gloomy as soybeans, wheat, and corn continue to slide. Overall, grain prices remain under pressure due to the risk of overproduction caused by high supply. A bushel of wheat now costs around 518 cents (contract maturing in September 2025).
Macroeconomics
Market sentiment: Macroeconomics is back in the spotlight. However, given the flood of corporate results, last week’s economic data had little impact on the markets. In the US, GDP grew more strongly than expected in the second quarter and inflation continues to rise. The Fed meeting on Wednesday evening and Jerome Powell’s surprisingly restrictive tone were also taken relatively calmly by the markets. It was only after Friday’s labor market data that prices showed a significant reaction. This is because the downward revision of the figures for new jobs created in May and June is raising doubts about the solid state of the labor market. As announced, Donald Trump waited until August 1 to impose new tariffs on individual countries. However, these will not come into effect until August 7. Negotiations are therefore likely to resume next week.
Cryptocurrencies
Cryptocurrencies: After reaching a new all-time high of $123,000 in July, Bitcoin (BTC) lost over 3% this week and settled back down at around $115,000. After four consecutive months of rising prices (+14% in April, +11% in May, +2.4% in June, and +8% in July), this pause was only logical. During this period, the queen of cryptocurrencies rose by a total of 40%. Despite the current slight decline, enthusiasm for Bitcoin spot ETFs remains unabated. Since April, exchange-traded products have recorded net inflows of $16.8 billion, bringing total assets under management to a record high of $152 billion. However, this momentum is by no means limited to BTC. Ether (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency on the market, has also more than doubled its price since April, from $1,780 to almost $3,700. And, of course, this rapid rise also benefited Ethereum spot ETFs, which saw net inflows of over $5 billion in July alone. The current hype is the result of a political and regulatory environment that is offering increasingly favorable conditions for cryptocurrencies, especially in the US.
Outlook
July ended with a lively reporting season, a wealth of economic data, and a new series of additional tariffs. From a macroeconomic perspective, a quieter week lies ahead, although numerous corporate results are expected. In the US, attention will focus primarily on Berkshire Hathaway, Palantir, AMD, Walt Disney, Eli Lilly, and Costco. In Europe, BP, Siemens Energy, Commerzbank, Allianz, Rheinmetall, and Infineon will present their figures.
In international trade, the focus remains on tariffs. The measures announced by the Trump administration this week are set to take effect on Friday, which could bring new twists and turns.
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