After a rocky start to the year, Wall Street closes out first week of 2025 on a high: US equities rallied on Friday to end the first week of the year on a positive note, with all three major indexes closing up. The Friday rally saw Wall Street changing directions after stocks fell the previous day — the first day of trading in 2025 — on the back of a soaring USD and Tesla shares falling 6.1% after reporting its first drop in annual deliveries, according to Reuters.

Snapping the streak: Friday’s market performance saw the S&P 500 closing up 1.3%, marking “its biggest rise since November 6 — the day after Donald Trump’s US election victory. The benchmark index’s gains on Friday also brought an end to five consecutive days of losses — the longest such streak since April,” the Financial Times notes. The Nasdaq also had a similar reversal of a losing streak, closing up 1.8% on Friday, buoyed by Nvidia and a rebound in Tesla shares.

This week will be a truer test of the durability of the rally, as the holiday season comes to a close and trading volumes — which have been thin over the past several days of trading — begin recovering to their usual levels, analysts say. Friday’s rebound came as the market “finally saw some buyers step in” following weakness at the end of the year “and a very oversold market,” but tomorrow’s trading session will mark “when a lot of the big money managers come back to the desk,” Carson Group’s chief market strategist tells Reuters. Analysts also expect more volatility in the coming weeks as Trump’s inauguration draws closer, with questions remaining “around what’s likely to come from the new administration,” the FT says.

EGX30

30,060

+1.1% (YTD: +1.1%)

USD (CBE)

Buy 50.70

Sell 50.84

USD (CIB)

Buy 50.72

Sell 50.82

Interest rates (CBE)

27.25% deposit

28.25% lending

Tadawul

12,103

+0.2% (YTD: +0.6%)

ADX

9323

+0.01% (YTD: -1.0%)

DFM

5127

-0.5% (YTD: -0.6%)

S&P 500

5942

+1.3% (YTD: +1.0%)

FTSE 100

8224

-0.4% (YTD: +0.6%)

Euro Stoxx 50

4871

-0.9% (YTD: -0.5%)

Brent crude

USD 76.51

+0.8%

Natural gas (Nymex)

USD 3.35

-8.4%

Gold

USD 2654.70

-0.5%

BTC

USD 98,350.40

+0.8% (YTD: +5.1%)

THE CLOSING BELL-

The EGX30 rose 1.1% on Thursday’s close on turnover of EGP 2.2 bn (44.4% below the 90-day average). Local investors were the sole net buyers. The index is up 1.1% YTD.

In the green: Palm Hills Developments (+6.1%), Beltone Holding (+5.3%), and Telecom Egypt (+4.5%).

In the red: Talaat Moustafa Group (-1.3%), Eastern Company (-0.9%), and Ezz Steel (-0.3%).

Tags: