Trading results for 2 April 2025

This past Wednesday was declared “Liberation Day” by the U.S. President, and everyone held their breath in anticipation of the “great spectacle” – the announcement of high tariffs which, according to most analysts, would inevitably escalate the global trade war and threaten the entire architecture of international trade. That much was clear to all.

But human nature is such that people always want to believe in the best. And so, the U.S. markets on Wednesday mustered all their willpower, put on a brave face and pretended everything was under control, nothing terrible was happening. Some probably hoped the new tariffs would not be as draconian as predicted. This could explain the rise in the stock market observed throughout the trading session.

Yes, at times the market was gripped by sadness and gloom, and quotes declined, but these waves of doubt quickly faded and growth resumed with the same enthusiasm. As a result, trading ended on an optimistic note, with all major U.S. indexes closing the day firmly in the green: from +0.56% for the Dow Jones (DJIA-30) to +0.87% for the tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite. Turnover was modest, but overall the picture looked very positive. To an outsider, unaware of what the market was actually bracing for, this might even have seemed like the start of a solid rally. After all, three consecutive days in the green – that says something.

A completely different picture emerged for the ITS index family. Until the close of the U.S. markets – at 01:00 Astana time – both the global ITS World Index (ITSW) and the Islamic securities index ITS Shariah (ITSS) mirrored their American peers, showing moderate gains. However, just after 1 am, when the U.S. President revealed his new tariff proposals – indeed draconian, just as analysts feared – global markets plunged. Naturally, this had an immediate impact on ITS index dynamics.

Both indexes dropped sharply, and by the end of the session losses amounted to 2.76% for the ITSS and nearly 3% (-2.94%) for the ITSW. The situation flipped upside down in a matter of minutes. For example, Tesla shares (YSLA), which had been among the leaders in the ITSS index throughout the U.S. session with gains of over 5% (+5.33%), had turned into one of the worst performers on the ITS platform by the close, losing more than 8% of their value. This pattern was seen across almost the entire portfolio. Given that, closing with losses under 3% can actually be considered a relatively decent outcome. It could have been – and possibly still may be – far worse.

The fact remains: following President Trump’s speech, the market situation began to unfold along the worst-case scenario. U.S. investors will have to digest this during today’s session, while ITS participants were able to react immediately – overnight, as the global sell-off began. This, undoubtedly, highlights one of the key advantages of a longer trading day.

Still, market conditions have noticeably worsened, and it is entirely possible that we are in for another wave of sell-offs in the coming days. This will likely deepen the ongoing correction and affect all economic sectors.