Trading results for 29 January 2025
Wednesday left a somewhat uneasy aftertaste. Nothing particularly alarming happened, but something still felt off. Trading was sluggish and uninspiring, with indexes stuck in negative territory, unable to climb into the green. For most of the session, they trended downward, propped up only by determined market participants. Then, two hours before the close, the US Federal Reserve, led by Chair Jerome Powell, entered the scene. The meeting went as expected — rates remained unchanged, and Powell offered little new or particularly insightful commentary.
Still, the market reacted, triggering a brief spike in volatility, with indexes dipping slightly before rebounding. But in the end, the day closed just as unimpressively as it had begun. All major indexes edged lower, posting only minor losses, from 0.31% for the Dow Jones to 0.51% for the NASDAQ Composite. The one bright spot, once again, was the global market index ITS World (ITSW), which gained 0.28% and hit a new all-time high of 1,264.01 points.
This highlights the strength of geographic diversification — when the US market stumbles, stocks from other regions step in. On Wednesday, only one US stock made it into ITSW’s top 10 performers: Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM, +0.58%), ranking a modest 10th. Leading the pack were Luxembourg-based Spotify Technology S.A. (SPOT, +1.51%) and Japan’s Sony Group (SONY, +1.47%), each gaining around 1.5% in market capitalisation.
The Islamic securities index ITS Shariah (ITSS) might have closed in positive territory as well, if not for Nvidia (NVDA, -4.10%), which continues to swing wildly. Since Monday, the stock has been volatile following hype around China's DeepSeek project and its low-cost AI chatbot. This sent NVDA shares tumbling 17% on Monday, rebounding 9% on Tuesday, only to drop again by as much as 6% intraday on Wednesday. While the decline eased by the close, losses remained significant.
Further weighing on the stock was news that President Trump is still considering restrictions on the sale of advanced chips to China. If these measures take effect, NVDA would be among the hardest hit. As a result, Nvidia was one of the worst performers across multiple indexes, including the NASDAQ Composite, the S&P 500, and ITSS. Given Nvidia’s massive market capitalisation, its movements significantly impact index performance. The fact that ITSS declined only 0.2% despite NVDA’s 4% drop suggests resilience against fluctuations in individual stocks.
In summary, the market appears at a crossroads. DeepSeek disrupted expectations, and Powell provided no clarity, leaving investors hesitant to push stocks higher. At the same time, no major negative developments have emerged. Perhaps this pause will allow the market to stabilise before climbing higher — that, at least, is the hope.