Among companies with a capitalization of at least $10 billion, Astera Labs, Inc. recorded the biggest increase last week. The hares of this company, which develops connectivity and memory optimization solutions for data centers, grew by 36.75% in a week to $179.28 per share. Next is Nebius Group N.V., which operates in the field of cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, with a growth of 32.27% to $68.78 per share. This top three is rounded out by e-commerce platform Shopify Inc., with a growth of 26.15% to $149.61 per share.

The top three largest-cap companies with the biggest losses last week starts off with digital advertising technology provider The Trade Desk, Inc., whose shares fell 37.00% to $54.23 per share in the week. Next was collaborative design platform Figma, Inc., which fell 35.98% to $78.11 per share. This top three was rounded out by research and advisory services leader Gartner, Inc., which fell 30.30% to $229 per share.

US stock markets closed last week with considerable gains. The Nasdaq was the biggest gainer, up 3.9%, the S&P 500 rose 2.4%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.3%. This market growth was driven by tech companies, with Apple shares alone up 13% after the company pledged to invest more in the US.

Investors are once again actively buying shares of big US tech companies, according to a new survey by Bank of America. A total of 45% of fund managers surveyed in August said the “Magnificent Seven” tech giants’ stocks are the most sought-after in the world right now. These companies’ high profits and optimistic economic forecasts have restored investor confidence.

US investors pulled $13.7 billion out of stock funds in the week ending August 6, the biggest outflow since late June. The move was prompted by new tariffs and not optimistic economic data that have left investors wary. Bond funds, however, had their best week in three months, pulling in $7.4 billion. Money market funds saw their biggest inflow since December, $78.85 billion, indicating that investors are still preferring safer assets.

Demand for cryptocurrencies has surged. Bitcoin surged above $122,000 on Monday, slightly below its record high in July. The surge is largely driven by demand for other safe assets as an alternative to gold amid new tariffs. Gold is currently facing supply issues, while Bitcoin is seen as a “tariff-free” reserve value.

Oil prices rose slightly on Monday—after falling more than 4% last week—amid expectations of US-Russia talks. Brent crude rose 36 cents to $66.95 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 34 cents to $64.22 a barrel. US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are scheduled to meet in Alaska on Friday.

The US dollar index was little changed at 98.30 as investors await Tuesday's inflation report and the expiration of the US-China tariff deal. Investors believe there is a 90% chance the US Federal Reserve will cut refinancing interest rates next month, and trade talks with China are likely to be extended by 90 days.

MP Materials company’s shares have hit an all-time high. They rose 10.45% to $78.50 per share on Friday. The US rare earth miner continues to expand its production of unique minerals widely used in modern technology and recently signed a multibillion-dollar deal with the US Department of Defense that guarantees a low threshold for the price of rare minerals, as well as a $500 million supply agreement with Apple.

Ford expects that as a result of new tariffs on imported cars, steel and aluminum in 2025, its profit will fall by $3 billion, more than previously forecast. The company already lost $800 million in the second quarter due to higher tariffs. The company's stock price fell 3% after this news.

Airbnb shares fell more than 7% after the company said it expected growth to slow in the second half of 2025. This disappointed investors who had expected travel demand to continue growing. But some other travel companies, including United Airlines, Hilton and Booking Holdings, have recently issued more optimistic forecasts.

The number of new applications for unemployment benefits in the US increased by 7,000 last week, reaching 226,000. This is the highest figure in a month and shows that the US labor market is generally stable: employers are avoiding large layoffs and changes in the labor force are being regulated by natural movement, which has helped maintain the US unemployment rate at 4.2% in July.

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