Among companies with a market capitalization of at least $10 billion, Joby Aviation registered the largest growth last week. Shares of the startup producing electric air taxis increased by 47.67% over the week (share price: $17.78). Next is MP Materials Corp., engaged in rare metals mining, with a 40.15% increase ($63.22). The top three is rounded out by NuScale Power Corporation, which designs nuclear power plants with small reactors, with a 34.07% increase ($50.25).
Among large-cap companies, the biggest losers last week were led by Elevance Health, a healthcare insurance provider, whose shares dropped by 18.66% in one week ($277.09). It is followed by Waters Corporation, a manufacturer of laboratory analytical equipment, with an 18.53% decrease ($287.53). The trio is completed by Centene Corporation, which manages healthcare insurance and public programs, with an 11.10% decline ($27.95).

The U.S. stock markets ended last week with minor changes, recovering from a short-term decline that was previously triggered by reports of Donald Trump’s intention to sharply raise tariffs on imports from the EU. As of the week's end, the S&P 500 rose by 0.59%, the Nasdaq by 1.5%, while the Dow Jones saw a slight drop of 0.07%. Last week also marked the beginning of corporate earnings season, which is expected to reveal the real impact of Trump’s tariff policy on large companies. Of the 59 S&P 500 companies that were first to report second-quarter earnings, the results exceeded forecasts, suggesting that investors believe the new tariffs won’t hurt the economy as much as previously anticipated. Nevertheless, uncertainty in trade negotiations has affected some companies. Despite strong earnings reports, Netflix and American Express saw declines of 5% and 2.3%, respectively.

On Monday, gold became more expensive. The market price of gold rose by 0.5%, reaching $3,364 per ounce. U.S. gold futures increased by 0.4% to $3,371. According to economists, the price increase was driven by the weakening of the dollar — the U.S. dollar index dropped by 0.2% — as well as uncertainty in trade negotiations. The deadline of August 1 will determine whether Washington will reach a trade agreement with the EU or whether the new, higher tariffs announced by Trump will take effect.

The total market capitalization of the cryptocurrency sector reached $4 trillion last week, indicating that the digital currency market has now become one of the core segments of the global financial market. Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill establishing a regulatory framework for so-called stablecoins. These are digital currencies pegged to the U.S. dollar and, unlike Bitcoin, their price does not fluctuate and is always equivalent to 1 U.S. dollar. Experts consider this a breakthrough moment for the crypto industry. The largest portion of the cryptocurrency market is currently occupied by Bitcoin. Last week, the price of one Bitcoin exceeded $120,000, setting a new record.

Amid broader concerns, U.S. stock funds suffered significant losses during the week ending July 16. Investors withdrew $11.75 billion from these funds, ending two consecutive weeks of growth. Bond funds attracted investments for the 13th consecutive week, registering an inflow of $5.55 billion. Money market funds saw an outflow of $9.79 billion.

On July 18, shares of Talen Energy rose by more than 23%, reaching a record high. The reason was the company’s new $3.5 billion deals involving the acquisition of two gas-powered thermal power plants. Talen announced it is purchasing the Moxie Freedom plant in Pennsylvania and the Guernsey Power Station in Ohio.

Indian IT giant Wipro saw its shares rise up to 4% last Friday, as its published financial results outperformed expectations. Wipro’s quarterly revenue rose by 0.8%, and its net profit by 11%.

Shares of Bitmine Immersion Technologies rose nearly 15% on Wednesday after tech billionaire Peter Thiel announced he had acquired a 9.1% stake in the company. Thiel is known for his past support of Bitcoin — his Founders Fund investment firm was one of the earliest investors in cryptocurrencies. Bitmine is engaged in Bitcoin mining and provides hosting services for other companies’ crypto-computing equipment.

On July 21, 2025, 5 billion AMD worth of government bonds were placed on the Armenian securities market. The bonds will mature on May 4, 2026. The public auction had three participants, with total submitted bids reaching 9.5 billion AMD. The average weighted price of the placed bonds was 93.9994 AMD, with a yield of 8.0354%.

In June, consumer prices in the U.S. rose by 0.3%, marking the highest increase in the past five months. This indicates that additional costs caused by tariffs have begun to influence inflation. The Consumer Price Index excluding food and energy (Core CPI) rose by 0.2%, and by 2.9% over the past 12 months.

The latest Beige Book report by the U.S. Federal Reserve, based on data and surveys from 12 regional banks, showed that economic activity has increased in recent weeks, but forecasts are somewhat pessimistic. Businesses report that the increased tariffs are driving inflation. Fed officials expect the impact of tariffs on inflation to become clearer by autumn.

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