Among companies with a capitalization of at least $10 billion, Symbotic Inc. recorded the largest increase last week. The shares of this American company developing warehouse automation systems based on industrial automation and artificial intelligence (AI) grew by 28.93% in a week, reaching $47.91 per share. Next is NIKE, Inc. The shares of this world leader in sportswear and footwear rose by 22.15% in a week, amounting to $76.39 per share. And this top three is completed by First Solar, Inc., with an increase of 18.89%. The share price of this American company operating in the solar energy sector reached $185.03 per share.

The top three of large-capitalization companies that recorded the biggest losses last week starts off with Centene Corporation. The shares of this American company that provides health insurance and government program management fell by 37.82% to $33.31 per share. Next is Molina Healthcare, Inc. The shares of this healthcare company that provides similar services fell by 17.69% in a week to $239.58 per share. And this top three is concluded by Tempus AI, Inc., with a 10.78% decline. The shares of this company that analyzes medical data using AI fell to $60.97 per share.

The US stock market closed at record highs last week. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq hit new all-time highs, while the Dow Jones was close to a record high. For the week, the S&P 500 rose 1.7%, the Nasdaq increased 1.6%, and the Dow Jones went up 2.3%. This growth was fueled by a new jobs report. Accordingly, the US added 147,000 jobs in June, exceeding expectations.

Gold prices continue to rise, driven by a continued weakening of the US dollar and growing demand for safe-haven assets. Last week, gold prices rose by about 1.9% to around $3,336 per ounce. This came after US President Donald Trump signed a tax cut bill into law, which raised concerns about the country's financial stability. Investors are also cautious, waiting for what will happen on Wednesday when the grace period set by Trump expires and new, higher import tariffs come into effect.

In the week ending July 2, a total of $31.6 billion was invested in US stock funds, the largest weekly inflow since November 2024. Most of it went to the shares of large companies, driven by the growth of AI giants Micron, Nvidia and AMD, and optimism about the sector. Bond funds saw an inflow of $6.66 billion, the lion’s share of which went to short- and medium-term corporate bond funds with high ratings. And $2.11 billion was withdrawn from government bond funds. Money market funds attracted $57.98 billion, the highest in the last four weeks. This is also an indicator of investor caution.

Tesla shares fell nearly 7% in premarket trading on Monday after CEO Elon Musk announced he was forming a new political party, the America Party. This has raised concerns among investors that politics will distract Musk from running the company. Investors are concerned also that the company could suffer from the current tension between Trump and Musk. The US president has already threatened to terminate Tesla's government contracts.

Shares of chip design software companies Synopsys and Cadence rose last week after the US lifted restrictions on these companies' products in China. These restrictions imposed in May had caused significant damage to these companies, as China is a very important market for them. After the restrictions were lifted, Synopsys shares rose by 5.5%, and Cadence—by 6.1%.

On July 3, Nvidia’s market value briefly hit $3.92 trillion, making it possibly the most valuable company in history. That nearly eclipses Apple’s record of $3.915 trillion, set in December 2024. Nvidia’s surge in value is driven by strong demand for its AI chips. They are used to power the massive AI systems that companies like Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, Alphabet, and Tesla are building. Nvidia shares rose as much as 2.4% during the day, but fell slightly later in the day, falling short of Apple’s record. Nvidia’s market value has grown nearly eightfold in the past four years, from $500 billion in 2021 to nearly $4 trillion today. The company is now worth more than all listed companies in the United Kingdom combined.

The US employment data for June was released, which at first glance seems positive: more than expected, 147,000 new jobs were created, and the unemployment rate fell from 4.2% to 4.1%. A deeper analysis, however, shows that the labor market is starting to lose its stability. Almost half of the jobs created were in the public sector, while job growth in the private sector was the lowest in the last eight months. Businesses have reduced working hours and slowed down the hiring of new workers. Economists warn that this weakening is associated with President Trump's policy of trade restrictions, tariffs, government spending cuts and deportations, which are forcing employers to avoid hiring new workers.

The US trade deficit increased by 18.7% to $71.5 billion in May as exports fell sharply while imports remained virtually unchanged. Exports fell 4% to $279 billion. Imports fell just 0.1% to $350.5 billion.

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