U.S. stocks steady after momentous start to week
NEW YORK, New York, - U.S. stocks were split, but little moved Wednesday after a positive start to the week heralded by a two-day rally. On Wednesday it was business as usual as buyers and sellers appeared equally matched on both sides of the ledger.
"There is a battle in the markets between some of the secular tailwinds, which should positively impact asset prices long term (AI, robotics, crypto, and many other technological innovations), and the cyclical headwinds of possible policy missteps," Leah Bennett, chief investment strategist at Concurrent Asset Management told CNBC Wednesday. "The former seems to be winning today."
The Nasdaq Composite extended gains while the Dow and S&P 500 dipped slightly.
Key U.S. Indexes Show Divergence
The Standard and Poor's 500 closed flat at 6,092.16 in thin trading.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 106.59 points, or 0.25 percent, to 42,982.43, weighed down by losses in industrial and financial stocks.
In contrast, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.31 percent to 19,973.55, buoyed by strength in megacap tech names.
Trading volumes, excpt for the S&P 500, were robust, with the Nasdaq seeing 7.21 billion shares exchanged.
Market Drivers
Analysts noted that investors remained cautious ahead of key economic data, including Friday's U.S. jobs report, while still digesting the latest corporate earnings. The Nasdaq's resilience suggested continued appetite for growth stocks despite lingering interest rate uncertainty.
Global Forex Markets Continue to see Weakness in US. Dollar on Wednesday
The foreign exchange market witnessed further declines in the U.S. dollar in major currency pairs during Wednesday's trading session, as investors assessed the latest geopolitical developments, economic data and central bank expectations.
The EUR/USD pair rose to 1.1660, marking an increase of 0.45 percent, as the euro strengthened against the U.S. dollar amid shifting market sentiment. Meanwhile, the USD/JPY edged higher to 145.16, up 0.19 percent, as the yen remained under pressure against the greenback due to interest rate differentials.
The USD/CAD saw minimal movement, inching up just 0.01 percent to 1.3724, reflecting steady demand for the US dollar against its Canadian counterpart.
The GBP/USD climbed 0.41 percent to 1.3668, as the British pound continued to meet demand. The pound now stands at a more than 3-year high, having advanced nearly 9 percent this year..
The USD/CHF dipped 0.11 percent to 0.8042, signaling slight weakness in the U.S. dollar against the Swiss franc. The AUD/USD advanced 0.36 percent to 0.6512, supported by improved risk appetite, while the NZD/USD led gains with a 0.58 percent rise to 0.6039, as the New Zealand dollar outperformed.
Global Markets Close Mixed on Wednesday; Asia Outperforms While Canada, UK, Europe Decline
Global stock markets delivered a mixed performance in Wednesday's session, with Asian indices leading gains while UK and European benchmarks faced broad declines.
North of the U.S. border, the S&P/TSX Composite dropped 0.57 percent to 26,566.32, marking one of the day's weaker performances among major global benchmarks. The decline came as energy and materials stocks lagged amid softer commodity prices.
UK and European Markets End Lower
European equities struggled as investors weighed economic concerns and corporate earnings. The UK's FTSE 100 fell 0.46 percent to 8,718.75, while Germany's DAX dropped 0.61 percent to 23,498.33. France's CAC 40 declined 0.76 percent to 7,558.16, and the EURO STOXX 50 slid 0.85 percent to 5,252.01. Belgium's BEL 20 mirrored the trend, shedding 0.76 percent to 4,457.12.
Asian Markets Rally
In contrast, Asian indices posted strong gains. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index surged 1.23 percent to 24,474.67, while Singapore's STI Index rose 0.56 percent to 3,925.98. India's S&P BSE SENSEX climbed 0.85 percent to 82,755.51, and Taiwan's TWSE Index jumped 1.09 percent to 22,430.61. Japan's Nikkei 225 edged up 0.39 percent to 38,942.07, and China's Shanghai Composite gained 1.04 percent to 3,455.97.
South Korea's KOSPI rose 0.15 percent to 3,108.25, and Malaysia's KLSE gained 0.36 percent to 1,519.79.
Mixed Moves in Pacific Regions
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 inched up 0.04 percent to 8,559.20, while the broader All Ordinaries added 0.06 percent to 8,779.90. New Zealand's NZX 50 dipped slightly by 0.05 percent to 12,460.96.
Israel's TA-125 led gains, soaring 1.71 percent to 2,973.48, while Egypt's EGX 30 surged 1.24 percent to 33,002.80. South Africa's Top 40, however, bucked the trend, falling 0.80 percent to 5,306.17.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Globe and Mail
an hour ago
- Globe and Mail
$1,000 Invested in VUG Could Turn Into $50,000
High-flying growth stocks receive a lot of attention, thanks to their high return potential. However, it doesn't take picking generational companies to make good money in the stock market. Broad exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have shown they can also do the trick with enough time on your side. ETFs allow you to invest in dozens, hundreds, and even thousands of companies with a single investment. And although they may not be as sexy as individual stocks, many go on to outperform the broader market (based on S&P 500 returns). The Vanguard Growth ETF (NYSEMKT: VUG) is a great example of this. Focusing on large-cap growth stocks, VUG has been a rewarding investment and has the potential to turn a $1,000 investment into $50,000 if it continues at its current rate. Stability and growth all mixed into one ETF Large-cap growth stocks have the potential to be the best of both worlds. On the one hand, large-cap companies (those with a market cap of at least $200 billion) typically have established business models, are market leaders, and are in good financial health. This helps provide a bit of stability because these companies have diversified revenue streams and the resources to weather rough times in the economy. On the other hand, these companies are still considered growth stocks because of their strong revenue and earnings growth and their considerable expansion and return potential. Below are the ETF's top 10 holdings: Company Percentage of the ETF Apple 11.61% Microsoft 10.59% Nvidia 9.04% Amazon 6.16% Meta Platforms 4.04% Broadcom 3.44% Alphabet (Class A) 3.24% Tesla 2.95% Eli Lilly 2.93% Alphabet (Class C) 2.63% Data source: Yahoo! Finance. The ETF is a bit top-heavy, but that's because it's weighted by market cap, and megacap tech stocks have skyrocketed in valuation over the past half-decade or so. The tech sector represents over 58% of VUG. How a $1,000 investment can turn into $50,000 This ETF doesn't have superpowers that can turn $1,000 into $50,000 overnight, but it does have returns that can do so if they continue. Since hitting the stock market in January 2004, the VUG ETF has averaged around 10.4% annual returns. Over the past decade, its average annual returns have been an impressive 14.7%. VUG data by YCharts. Using 10% and 14% average annual returns, here's how much a one-time $1,000 investment could go to in different numbers of years: Years Invested 10% Annual Returns 14% Annual Returns 10 $2,580 $3,690 15 $4,150 $7,100 20 $6,670 $13,640 25 $10,730 $26,230 30 $17,260 $50,410 Calculations by author. Values are rounded down to the nearest ten and take into account VUG's expense ratio. Let compound earnings do the hard work for you Anytime your investment grows a few times over, it's a good thing, but the real value is created when you continue contributing to VUG instead of a one-time investment. For the sake of illustration, let's meet in the middle and assume VUG averages 12% annual returns. Here's how your investment could stack up based on how much you add monthly: Years Invested $100 Added Monthly $250 Added Monthly $500 Added Monthly 15 $50,000 $116,900 $228,400 20 $95,600 $224,700 $439,800 25 $175,800 $414,300 $811,900 Calculations by author. Values are rounded down to the nearest hundred and take into account VUG's expense ratio. It's important to remember that these are all assumptions and there's no way to predict how VUG (or any stock) will perform going forward. However, the most important thing this shows is just how effective compound earnings can be at creating wealth in the stock market. What you may lack in a lump sum to invest, you can make up for with consistency and time. Don't underestimate the power of both. Should you invest $1,000 in Vanguard Index Funds - Vanguard Growth ETF right now? Before you buy stock in Vanguard Index Funds - Vanguard Growth ETF, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Vanguard Index Funds - Vanguard Growth ETF wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $713,547!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $966,931!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor 's total average return is1,062% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to177%for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 23, 2025 John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Stefon Walters has positions in Apple and Microsoft. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia, Tesla, and Vanguard Index Funds-Vanguard Growth ETF. The Motley Fool recommends Broadcom and recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Globe and Mail
an hour ago
- Globe and Mail
SDY Is a Popular Dividend ETF for Passive Income. But Is It the Best?
When it comes to investing, it makes a lot of sense for many of us to opt for exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which are funds that trade like stocks. With classic mutual funds, if you want to buy into one, you place your order and it gets filled at the end of the day, at a price based on the closing prices of its components that session. With an ETF, you can place an order to buy at any time during the trading day and that order can be executed immediately. ETFs come in a wide variety, and many are low-fee index funds, including the popular Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: VOO). It's worth considering dividend-focused ETFs, too, as they can deliver valuable income for decades, without your having to research and choose individual dividend-paying stocks. One popular fund of this type is the SPDR S&P Dividend ETF (NYSEMKT: SDY). Would it be a good fit for your portfolio? Why dividends? Dividend-paying stocks are a more powerful tool for building investors' wealth than many people realize. Part of the reason is that in order to commit to paying a regular dividend, a company's management must be fairly confident in the reliability of cash flows, finding them sufficient to support the dividend. No company wants to have to shrink or eliminate a dividend, as that would be a red flag to investors. Consider this tidbit from the folks at Hartford Funds: "Going back to 1960, 85% of the cumulative total return of the S&P 500 Index can be attributed to reinvested dividends and the power of compounding." Meet the SPDR S&P Dividend ETF SPDR S&P Dividend ETF tracks the S&P High Yield Dividend Aristocrats index, which restricts its components to companies in the S&P Composite 1500 that have increased their payouts annually for at least 20 consecutive years. The ETF recently yielded a solid 2.59%. Here's how it has performed in recent years Over the Past... Average Annualized Gain 3 years 6.31% 5 years 11.34% 10 years 9.24% 15 years 11.12% Source: Morningstar. Figures as of June 25, 2025. You'll note that those are not the fattest returns -- but they come along with some durability, as not every company is so solidly built that it can not only pay dividends for at least 20 years, but increase them annually, too. The SPDR S&P Dividend ETF recently held positions in 149 companies, and its top 10 holdings made up about 18% of its total value. Those recent top holdings were: Stock Percent of ETF Microchip Technology 2.41% Verizon Communications 2.36% Realty Income 2.19% Target 1.80% Chevron 1.70% Texas Instruments 1.62% Archer-Daniels-Midland 1.39% Eversource Energy 1.38% Kimberly Clark 1.36% NextEra Energy 1.34% Source: Morningstar. Figures as of June 24, 2025. Is the SPDR S&P Dividend ETF the best dividend ETF? So -- is the SPDR S&P Dividend ETF the best dividend ETF? Well, sure, for some people. But there are other solid dividend-focused ETFs to consider. Here are some, along with an S&P 500 index fund, for comparison. JPMorgan Equity Premium Income ETF (NYSEMKT: JEPI) 8.01% 11.73% N/A iShares Preferred & Income Securities ETF (NASDAQ: PFF) 6.68% 3.22% 3.21% Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (NYSEMKT: SCHD) 3.97% 13.34% 10.92% Fidelity High Dividend ETF (NYSEMKT: FDVV) 3.02% 17.91% N/A Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF (NYSEMKT: VYM) 2.86% 14.60% 10.08% SPDR S&P Dividend ETF 2.59% 11.77% 9.29% iShares US Real Estate ETF (NYSEMKT: IYR) 2.55% 7.26% 6.09% iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF (NYSEMKT: DGRO) 2.23% 13.94% 11.75% Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (NYSEMKT: VIG) 1.79% 14.07% 11.83% First Trust Rising Dividend Achievers ETF (NASDAQ: RDVY) 1.67% 17.61% 12.68% Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: VOO) 1.25% 16.54% 13.15% Source: Yahoo! Finance and Morningstar. Figures as of June 24, 2025. Before you jump at the fattest yield you see, remember that dividend growth is important, too. An ETF with a yield of 4% today might be more tempting than one with a yield of 3%, but the fund with the 3% yield might be growing its payouts faster, and wind up delivering more actual income than the other within a few years. Remember that the SPDR S&P Dividend ETF is focused on dividend growers. Its quarterly payout in June 2025 was $0.927 per share, up from $0.68 in June 2020 and $0.503 in June 2015. Note, too, that the JPMorgan Equity Premium Income ETF is a different kind of fund, not purely a holder of dividend-paying stocks. And the iShares Preferred & Income Securities ETF is focused on preferred stock, which tends to appreciate in value more slowly. So dig in deeper into any ETF that intrigues you. Any of the ones above may serve you well, delivering increasing passive income to you and your portfolio for many years or decades. Should you invest $1,000 in SPDR Series Trust - SPDR S&P Dividend ETF right now? Before you buy stock in SPDR Series Trust - SPDR S&P Dividend ETF, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and SPDR Series Trust - SPDR S&P Dividend ETF wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $713,547!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $966,931!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor 's total average return is1,062% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to177%for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 23, 2025 Selena Maranjian has positions in NextEra Energy, Realty Income, Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF, and Verizon Communications. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Chevron, NextEra Energy, Realty Income, Target, Texas Instruments, Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF, Vanguard S&P 500 ETF, and Vanguard Whitehall Funds-Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF. The Motley Fool recommends Verizon Communications. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Globe and Mail
3 hours ago
- Globe and Mail
Is Tesla Stock a Millionaire Maker?
Looking back at its history as a public company, Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) has generated serious wealth for investors. The auto industry disruptor has seen its shares skyrocket 20,290% since its initial public offering in June 2010 (as of June 25). Had you invested just $5,000 back then, there would be a $1 million balance in your portfolio right now. No one would argue with that kind of impressive past gain. But will the leading EV stock be a millionaire maker in the future? Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Learn More » Assessing Tesla's true valuation Tesla might be the most closely watched business in the world, partly, because of how it disrupted the global car market. Investors also keep tabs on what CEO Elon Musk is doing, as well as his plans for the company (more on this below). However, investors shouldn't lose sight of what Tesla really is today, which is a challenged company that sells innovative and tech-enhanced EVs. In the first quarter, the business reported $14 billion of automotive revenue, 72% of the total. Total revenue was up just 0.9% in 2024, then it declined 9.2% in Q1 2025. Operating income in the first quarter tanked 66%, thanks to lower average selling prices, fewer deliveries, and higher expenses. To be fair, this is an extremely inventive company that's working at the cutting edge of exciting technologies. But someone viewing Tesla with a clear lens would see that this is a struggling business. Its core operations are under pressure, without a doubt. What valuation should Tesla trade at knowing the reality of the business today? Even with a more reasonable price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) of 50 (compared to its current P/E ratio of 179), which is what luxury automaker Ferrari trades for, the stock has 72% downside. That certainly doesn't give investors any reason to be bullish. The Musk premium Based on the current market cap of $1 trillion and P/E ratio of 179, Tesla is wildly overvalued. But the story stock has seemingly always traded at a steep valuation, as investors continue to bet on a future that sees the company realizing its potential as a dominant force in autonomous driving and robotics. The company has finally launched a robotaxi service in Austin, Texas. This was highly anticipated and something that Musk has talked about for years. However, I think it turned out to be a big nothing burger. There were no Cybercabs. Less than two dozen Model Ys were used instead. There were human supervisors in all the vehicles. And videos of the robotaxis in action showed numerous issues, spurring an investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. At the same time, Alphabet 's Waymo is handling 250,000 trips per week in multiple cities. And an application is in place to start testing the service in New York City. Tesla appears to still have a long way to go. The company is also leveraging its AI capabilities to work on Optimus, a humanoid robot. Musk believes it will produce 1 million units annually by the end of this decade. Besides placing these machines in its factories, the goal is to sell them to other companies. If all goes according to plan, which is a very uncertain outcome, then Tesla could make its investors into millionaires down the road. The end markets for robotaxis and humanoid robots are estimated to be measured in the trillions of dollars. The company's ability to not only have these technologies achieve mass adoption, but to also capture a sizable chunk of the opportunity, could create a financial windfall. However, I think there's also a good chance that the business won't deliver up to its heightened expectations, a perspective that's supported by a history of constant delays. This is a stock that I'm still avoiding. Don't miss this second chance at a potentially lucrative opportunity Ever feel like you missed the boat in buying the most successful stocks? Then you'll want to hear this. On rare occasions, our expert team of analysts issues a 'Double Down' stock recommendation for companies that they think are about to pop. If you're worried you've already missed your chance to invest, now is the best time to buy before it's too late. And the numbers speak for themselves: Nvidia: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2009, you'd have $409,114!* Apple: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2008, you'd have $38,173!* Netflix: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2004, you'd have $713,547!* Right now, we're issuing 'Double Down' alerts for three incredible companies, available when you join Stock Advisor, and there may not be another chance like this anytime soon. See the 3 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 23, 2025
