Syz the moment

Source: Bloomberg, Kevin Gordon

"The second quarter of 2025 saw significant volatility across markets as investors grappled with tariff policy uncertainty and war in the Middle East. In both cases, investors’ worst fears ultimately proved unfounded and in the absence of a meaningful weakening in the hard data, most major asset classes delivered positive returns over the quarter. The liberation day tariff announcement on 2 April caused a sharp selloff across markets. The reciprocal tariff package was larger than expected and both stock and bond markets reacted quickly. The S&P 500 fell 12% over the following week, while US 10-year Treasury yields rose 50 basis points between the 4 and 11 April. The US administration responded to market volatility and moved to soften its trade policy, pausing reciprocal tariffs for 90 days and agreeing the principles of a trade deal with China. This mollified investors and risk assets quickly recovered, with developed market equities delivering total returns of 11.6% over the quarter. A combination of renewed investor confidence, and a strong earnings season helped boost mega-cap tech stocks. After underperforming in the first quarter of 2025, the ‘Magnificent 7’ delivered price returns of 18.6% over the second, outperforming the remainder of the S&P 500 by 14 percentage points. This helped global growth stocks deliver total returns of 17.7% over the quarter to end the period as the top performing asset class.

Source: Chris Millas @ChrisMMillas

JPMORGAN JUST INCREASED ITS QUARTERLY DIVIDEND OF $1.50 PER SHARE UP FROM $1.40 Source: Evan on X

Source: @MikeZaccardi on X

Source: @MikeZaccardi on X

Source: Chris Millas @ChrisMMillas

Source: @brewmarkets