Markets across the globe took a cautious approach in trading, showing mixed trends. Wall Street closed at an all-time high on Friday with Delta Air Lines kicking off earnings season with a solid outlook for the rest of 2025, spurring an airline stock rally.
Chinese markets were also sharply higher. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong added 1.6 per cent to 24,402.41, while the Shanghai Composite index climbed 1.1 per cent to 3,546.50.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225, on the other hand, edged down 0.1 per cent to 39,662.19, while South Korea’s Kospi was up 0.1 per cent to 3,185.15.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 too slipped 0.1 per cent to 8,583.40. India's BSE Sensex was flat at 83,190.28.
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Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management believes it’s US President Donald Trump’s new tariff letters, including the one announcing 35 per cent duties on Canadian imports, that played spoil sport.
“Just as the market was catching its breath at new highs – drunk on Nvidia fumes and blissfully ignoring the dollar’s quiet groan – President Trump tugged the rug again. A new act in the tariff opera: 35 per cent duties on Canadian imports, with a sweeping upgrade in blanket tariffs now floating between 15 per cent and 20 per cent,” he said.
“Asian equities, initially hopeful, wilted into flat lines as if someone had pulled the plug on the optimism generator. There's a growing sense now that risk has become radioactive – tradable, but only in hazmat gloves,” he added.
Delta surged 12 per cent, bringing other airlines along with it, after beating Wall Street’s revenue and profit targets. The Atlanta airline also gave a more optimistic view for the remaining summer travel season than it had just a couple months ago.
The airline and other major US carriers had pulled or slashed their forecasts in the spring, citing macroeconomic uncertainty amid US President Donald Trump’s tariff rollouts, which have consumers feeling uneasy about spending on travel.
The S&P 500 rose 0.3 per cent, inching past the record it set last week after a better-than-expected June jobs report.
The Nasdaq composite edged up 0.1 per cent, enough of a gain to notch a new high for the second day in a row. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished 0.4 per cent higher.
Meanwhile, bitcoin (BTC-USD) climbed to a new all-time high Thursday, breaking above USD 113,000.
The token's price jump came amid bullish momentum across risk assets and coincides with Nvidia's surge to a USD 4 trillion valuation. It also comes days before the US Congress' Crypto Week on July 14, where lawmakers will debate a series of bills that could define the regulatory framework for the industry.
In other dealings on Friday, benchmark US crude added 44 cents to USD 67.01 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, advanced 41 cents to USD 69.05 per barrel. The dollar was trading at 146.95 Japanese yen, up from 146.20 yen. The euro slid to USD 1,1682 from USD 1.1704.
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