Trading results for 12 May 2025
After a lacklustre week of trading, it is fair to say that the new week started on an extremely positive note. News of successful tariff negotiations between the U.S. and China, held in Switzerland over the weekend, lifted investor sentiment Hoping that recession fears would now take a back seat, investors began snapping up stocks like hotcakes on market day. Demand was broad-based, with only a few exceptions. Among these were defensive utility stocks, which lost an average of 0.92% over the day, and Consumer Defensive shares, where losses were purely symbolic – just 0.06%. All other economic sectors ended the day firmly in the green, with some posting particularly strong gains. Unsurprisingly, this included leading tech and cyclical stocks, which rose by an average of 4.64% and 5.35% respectively.
Overall, the main American indexes posted solid gains – from 2.81% for the Dow Jones index (DJIA-30) to 4.35% for the NASDAQ Composite. The flagship benchmark of the U.S. stock market, the S&P 500, added 3.26%. Notably, despite the strength of the rally, Monday’s trading was steady and lacked any major volatility, ending confidently at the day’s highs – a sign that investors may be ready to keep buying in the days ahead.
The ITS family of indexes also delivered impressive results: the ITS World index of global companies (ITSW) rose by 2.75%, while the ITS Shariah index of Islamic stocks (ITSS) gained even more – nearly 4% (+3.88%) – second only to the high-tech NASDAQ Composite in terms of performance. Within the ITSS index, only three of the 30 companies finished the day in the red.
Some share performances, meanwhile, were nothing short of remarkable. Apple (AAPL), for instance, rose by more than 6% (+6.18%) in a single day – and still didn’t make it into the day’s top five performers, which speaks volumes.
The best performer in the ITSS index was a recent addition – technology company Texas Instruments (TXN) – whose shares surged by nearly 9% (+8.71%) in just one session.
The week is only just beginning, with many key events still to come. Still, it is encouraging that despite the unpredictability of President Trump’s economic policies, both sides are making an effort to resolve their differences – however imperfectly – and with some success. That, in turn, gives investors reason to look ahead with a degree of optimism.