Trading results for 13 May 2025

Tuesday's trading went almost according to plan. Almost – because a few things still didn’t unfold quite as analysts had forecast. After a strong and fairly optimistic Monday, when market participants celebrated the trade agreements between the U.S. and China, many expected the positive trend to continue on Tuesday – but only if the consumer inflation data (CPI index), due before the main trading session, didn’t disappoint.

In the end, the CPI index came in slightly better than most analysts had expected, which supported the upbeat mood among investors. That is, everywhere except in the medical and healthcare sector. Here, the sell-off that began last week continued, dragging the Dow Jones index (DJIA-30) down with it.

While its younger “companions” – the S&P 500 and NASDAQ Composite – rose confidently and ended the day with solid gains of +0.72% and +1.61% respectively, the old Dow lost 0.64%. And it’s no surprise, considering that some major pharmaceutical stocks suffered catastrophic declines. UnitedHealth (UNH) lost nearly 18% of its market capitalisation (-17.79%), Merck (MRK) nearly 5% (-4.72%) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) nearly 4% (-3.70%).

Fortunately, the negativity in the healthcare sector wasn’t enough to spoil the broader picture. Tuesday’s session overall rode a wave of optimism and clearly boosted investor confidence. This positive sentiment was also reflected in ETF trading based on indexes from the ITS family. The ITS World index (ITSW) of global companies rose 0.35% on the day, while the ITS Shariah index (ITSS) of Islamic securities climbed 1.54% – comparable to the performance of the NASDAQ Composite.

The same companies led gains in both indexes. The top three were NVidia (NVDA, +5.56%), Broadcom (AVGO, +4.89%) and the fast-recovering Tesla (TSLA, +4.87%). These three tech giants, like a powerful trio of horses, pulled the entire market forward – and quite successfully, as we can see.

All in all, the week has had a strong start: investors continue to buy actively and the indexes are steadily regaining ground. The ITS World index (ITSW) stands out in particular – now just about 2% away from its all-time high. Hopefully, it will get there very soon.