Regencell Bioscience Holdings Limited posted the biggest gain last week among companies with a market capitalization of at least $10 billion. Shares of this biomedical research and biotechnology company rose 142.71% to $38.01 per share in a week. Next is Circle Internet Group, Inc., a blockchain technology and digital currency company, up 79.90% to $240.28 per share. And Coinbase Global, a digital currency trading platform and crypto asset management provider, rounds out this top three, with a 27.06% gain to $308.38 per share.

The top three largest-cap companies with the biggest losses last week starts off with First Solar, Inc. The shares of this leading manufacturer of solar panels and renewable energy solutions dropped 17.24% in the week to $145 per share. Next is Chime Financial, Inc., a provider of fintech services and a digital banking platform, down 15.12% to $29.53 per share. And this top three is rounded out by AppLovin Corporation, a developer of mobile games and marketing technologies, down 10.92% to $324.70 per share.

The US stock market closed the last working day of last week with a decline, and there were mixed results for the whole week. The S&P 500 fell by 0.2 percent for the week, the Nasdaq, thanks to the growth recorded at the beginning of the week, was able to conclude the week with a 0.2 percent increase. The Dow Jones remained almost unchanged. The decline in the markets was recorded amid the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East, which caused caution among investors.

Apricot Capital has announced that its new, more affordable pricing has gone into effect. The minimum commission fee for buying stocks and ETFs from the US market through the Apricot Capital app is $1, while for European markets available through the app, the fee starts at €1. This rate will apply to purchases of up to 50 securities in a single transaction in the US market, and for purchases of more than 50 securities, a commission of $0.02 will be charged per security.

Global oil prices have been rising since the US launched airstrikes on Iran, which announced plans to close the Strait of Hormuz. Brent crude rose 1.53% to $78.19 a barrel on Monday morning, while WTI crude rose 1.48% to $74.93. Analysts say that prolonged tensions could lead to further oil price increases. The US dollar strengthened against the euro and a number of Asian currencies on Monday.

Investors have begun to withdraw their funds from US mutual funds amid the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran. A total of $18.43 billion was withdrawn from US equity funds in the week ending June 18. Sector funds, however, saw an increase in investment interest, with an inflow of $855 million. The most popular were technology sector funds, with $1.85 billion, and the industrial sector, with an inflow of $445 million. At the same time, the financial sector suffered a significant loss, with an outflow of $1.22 billion. US bond funds recorded a weakening of interest. Inflows decreased to $2.79 billion, which is the lowest in the last seven weeks. However, mortgage funds recorded a five-week maximum inflow of $566 million. Money market funds recorded an outflow for the second week in a row, this time by $7.75 billion.

Amid the general uncertainty, the price of bitcoin fell sharply, by more than 4%, to $99,237 on Sunday morning. The second largest cryptocurrency, Ethereum, suffered a bigger loss, falling about 8.5% to $2,199. Analysts attribute this decline to rising tensions in the Middle East and investors shifting from riskier assets to more traditional ones.

On Monday, 3 billion drams of government bonds were placed on Armenia’s securities market, and they will be redeemed on June 19, 2026. The public auction had three participants, and the bids submitted by them amounted to 9 billion drams. The weighted average price of the placed government bonds was 95.7105 drams, and the yield was 7.7198 percent.

Talks about a possible recession have intensified again in the US. According to the Conference Board report, the economic activity index decreased by 0.1% in May, reaching 99.0 points. This is the sixth consecutive monthly decline, which indicates a weakening of economic activity. According to the analysis, the main depressing factors are growing pessimism among consumers, a decrease in new orders in the industry, an increase in unemployment benefits applications, and a decrease in building permits. At the same time, the growth of the stock market in May, which was due to the partial cancellation of some tariffs by the US President Donald Trump’s administration, somewhat mitigated the overall decline. Despite this, experts do not predict a full-fledged recession, but expect economic growth to slow considerably in 2025. According to estimates, real US GDP will grow by only 1.6%. And the pressure from tariffs may lead to a further slowing of economic growth in 2026.

The US Federal Reserve has left the refinancing interest rate unchanged at 4.25-4.5%, but warned that the possibility of an interest rate cut in 2025 remains uncertain, given the risks and impact of new tariffs imposed by the Trump administration. US Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell announced that inflation could increase significantly in the coming months as the new tariffs will ultimately burden consumers.

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