
Markets boosted after EU, US strike trade deal
News of the deal, announced by US president Donald Trump and European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday, followed a series of US trade agreements last week, including with Japan, and comes ahead of a new round of China-US talks.
Investors were also gearing up for a busy week of data, central bank decisions and earnings from some of the world's biggest companies.
Trump and von der Leyen announced at his golf resort in Scotland that a baseline tariff of 15 percent would be levied on EU exports to the United States.
"We've reached a deal. It's a good deal for everybody. This is probably the biggest deal ever reached in any capacity," Trump said, adding that the levies would apply across the board, including for Europe's crucial automobile sector, pharmaceuticals and semiconductors.
Brussels also agreed to purchase "$750 billion worth of energy" from the United States, as well as make $600 billion in additional investments.
"It's a good deal," von der Leyen said. "It will bring stability. It will bring predictability. That's very important for our businesses on both sides of the Atlantic."
Equities built on their recent rally, fanned by relief that countries were reaching deals with Washington.
Paris rose one percent, with Frankfurt and London also tracking gains in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Seoul, Wellington, Taipei and Jakarta.
Tokyo fell for a second day, having soared about five percent on Wednesday and Thursday in reaction to Japan's US deal. Singapore, Manila and Mumbai were also lower.
The broad gains came after another record day for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq on Wall Street.
"The news flow from both the extension with China and the agreement with the EU is clearly market-friendly, and should put further upside potential into the euro... and should also put renewed upside into EU equities," said Chris Weston at Pepperstone.
Traders are gearing up for a packed week, with a delegation including US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent holding fresh trade talks with a Chinese team headed by Vice Premier He Lifeng in Stockholm.
While in April both countries imposed tariffs that reached triple-digits, US duties this year have temporarily been lowered to 30 percent and China's countermeasures slashed to 10 percent.
The 90-day truce, instituted after talks in Geneva in May, is set to expire on August 12.
China said it was seeking "mutual respect and reciprocity" in the talks.
Also on the agenda are earnings from tech titans Amazon, Apple, Meta and Microsoft, as well as data on US economic growth and jobs.
The Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting is expected to conclude with officials standing pat on interest rates, though investors are keen to see what their views are on the outlook for the rest of the year in light of Trump's tariffs and recent trade deals.
"We think the data supports a Fed on hold in July, but absent a significant upside surprise in the upcoming inflation data, September could be a 'live' meeting for a resumption of rate cuts, especially if economic activity data and possibly overwhelming political pressure force the Fed's hand," said Michael Krautzberger at Allianz.
The Bank of Japan is also forecast to hold off on any big moves on borrowing costs.
By mid-morning, the JSE's All-Share index was flat, with Valterra down more than 2% after releasing its results.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


New York Times
2 minutes ago
- New York Times
Benjamin Sesko: Newcastle make €80m bid for RB Leipzig striker
Newcastle United have made an offer worth €80million for RB Leipzig striker Benjamin Sesko. The bid is comprised of €75m up front with a further €5m in potential add-ons, and was tabled by Newcastle in the past 24 hours. The Athletic reported on July 24 that Newcastle were considering a move for the 22-year-old in the event that Alexander Isak leaves the club, with the Swedish striker wanting a transfer this summer. Advertisement Newcastle have rejected a formal £110million offer from Liverpool for Isak but the Premier League champions retain a strong interest in the 25-year-old. Manchester United are also interested in Sesko and the Slovenia striker is yet to make a firm decision on his preferred destination. Sesko had been monitored by Arsenal before the north London side opted to pursue a move for Isak's compatriot Viktor Gyokeres, who they signed last month in a deal worth €63.5million (£54.8m; $74.2m) plus €10m. Chelsea had also admired Sesko for several years, though they moved to sign forwards Liam Delap and Joao Pedro earlier this summer. Sesko's Leipzig deal runs until 2029, having signed a new contract last year, which was expected to include a gentleman's agreement that would allow him to leave for the right project. His previous deal contained a €65m release clause. The Slovenia international joined Leipzig in 2023 from Red Bull Salzburg, with both clubs owned by the Red Bull GmbH conglomerate. He has made 87 appearances for Leipzig, scoring 39 goals and providing eight assists. He made his senior Slovenia debut the day after his 18th birthday and has scored 16 goals in 41 games, representing his nation at the 2024 European Championship. Liverpool had previously communicated their interest in doing a deal for Isak in the region of £120million ($162m) though Newcastle's stance had been that the Swede was not for sale. Isak did not play in a friendly against Celtic or join the team's pre-season tour of Asia, with the club stating that this was down to a minor thigh problem but sources, speaking anonymously as they were not authorised to do so publicly, indicate the forward favoured being omitted with his future uncertain. Isak is currently training alone at his former club Real Sociedad. Advertisement Analysis by German football writer Seb Stafford-Bloor Reasonably well, but it was not the season he needed to produce to assuage the doubts. While his overall level of performance improved in the broader sense, with Sesko becoming more connected with the rest of the Leipzig side, his goalscoring numbers were down. He scored one fewer Bundesliga goal (13) in 2024-25 than he did the year before, despite playing almost an extra 900 minutes. He was never able to replicate that seven-game streak from the previous year, either, meaning that it felt underwhelming as a result, despite some eye-catching goals (particularly against Bayern Munich at the Red Bull Arena). But Leipzig had a bad season. They sacked Marco Rose in March, limped to their lowest finish since being promoted to the Bundesliga in 2016 and only won one game of their eight Champions League games. That's valuable context. Nevertheless, consistency was still an issue for Sesko and the gap between his best performances and his worst, which is a historic criticism, remains too wide.
Yahoo
5 minutes ago
- Yahoo
The Stock Market Has Never Been Pricier, According to Warren Buffett's Favorite Valuation Tool -- and History Is Clear What Happens Next
Key Points The S&P 500, Nasdaq Composite, and Dow Jones Industrial Average have endured a bumpy ride in 2025, filled with historic moves in both directions. The "Buffett Indicator" just reached its highest level in 55 years -- and historical precedent serves as a warning for Wall Street. Warren Buffett is a long-term investor for one key reason: He understands that economic and stock market cycles aren't linear. 10 stocks we like better than S&P 500 Index › Though the stock market has been a bona fide wealth creator for well over a century, this doesn't mean stocks rise in an orderly fashion. Through the first seven months of 2025, investors have been taken on quite the historic ride. In early April, the iconic S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) shed 10.5% of its value in just two trading sessions, which marked its fifth-steepest two-day percentage decline dating back to 1950. The struggle was also felt by the growth-focused Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQINDEX: ^IXIC) and ageless Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI), which respectively fell into a bear market (Nasdaq) and correction territory (Dow). However, Wall Street's relatively short-lived swoon sparked by President Donald Trump's tariff and trade policy quickly gave way to a booming bull market. The S&P 500 has enjoyed one of its strongest three-month returns in 75 years, with it and the Nasdaq Composite blasting to numerous record-closing highs. But though optimism is high, so are stock valuations. Based on billionaire Warren Buffett's favorite valuation tool, the stock market has never been pricier -- and history is crystal clear what comes next for stocks. A grim reality: The stock market has never been more expensive To preface the following discussion, "value" is something of a subjective term. What you believe is a bargain might be viewed as pricey by another investor. This subjectivity toward stock valuations is what makes the stock market so dynamic and unpredictable. For most investors, the traditional price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio is the go-to when valuing stocks. The P/E ratio is arrived at by dividing a company's share price by its trailing-12-month earnings per share (EPS). Generally, a lower P/E ratio equates to a perceived-to-be cheaper stock -- but comparisons need to be made among a company's peers to confirm this. While the P/E ratio is a fantastic tool for quickly evaluating mature businesses, it loses its luster during recessions or when attempting to value growth stocks. For Berkshire Hathaway's (NYSE: BRK.A)(NYSE: BRK.B) billionaire CEO Warren Buffett, no valuation tool holds more historical importance than the market cap-to-GDP ratio. This measure adds up the total value of all publicly traded companies and divides it by U.S. gross domestic product (GDP). Ideally, a lower number is indicative of cheaper valuations for equities. In a rare interview with Fortune magazine nearly a quarter-century ago, Buffett referred to the market cap-to-GDP ratio as "probably the best single measure of where valuations stand at any given moment." Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the Oracle of Omaha's investment success at Berkshire Hathaway, this valuation measure became known as the "Buffett Indicator." Recently, the Buffett Indicator has pushed to never-before-seen levels. When back-tested to 1970, the Buffett Indicator has averaged a reading of 85%, which is to say that the aggregate value of all stocks has averaged about 85% of U.S. GDP spanning 55 years. In recent trading sessions, this ratio has pushed above 213%, equating to a roughly 151% premium to its mean since 1970. Previous instances where the Buffett Indicator decisively moved to new highs were eventually followed by significant pullbacks in the benchmark S&P 500, Nasdaq Composite, and Dow Jones Industrial Average. For example, the Buffett Indicator topped out at 195.62% on Nov. 7, 2021, just two months prior to the 2022 bear market taking shape. This bear market eventually lopped 25% off of the broad-based S&P 500, and even more from the growth-heavy Nasdaq. On March 23, 2000, immediately prior to the bursting of the dot-com bubble, the Buffett Indicator rocketed to 144.25%, representing a mammoth increase from the sub-60% range it had settled into in December 1994. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq respectively lost 49% and 78% when the dot-com bubble burst. The point being that premium valuations have historically been a warning to Wall Street that it's not a matter of "if" but "when" significant downside pressure on equities returns. Even though it's been a very long time since Buffett has referenced the market-cap-to-GDP ratio, his actions speak loudly. Through the end of March 2025, he's been a net seller of stocks for 10 consecutive quarters, to the cumulative tune of $174.4 billion. Berkshire's billionaire chief is a stickler for value, and he's struggling to find a good deal on Wall Street. The historical warning signs couldn't be more evident for investors. Warren Buffett is a long-term investor for a reason! Although historical precedent couldn't be clearer, it's important for investors not to be too focused on short-term directional movements. While Buffett has been a very selective buyer for nearly three years, he and his trusted top advisors continue to hold dozens of stocks for the long term. For decades, Berkshire Hathaway's billionaire chief has approached nearly all of his investments with the idea that he'll be holding for years, if not considerably longer. The reason for approaching investments this way is simple: Economic and stock market cycles aren't linear. The Oracle of Omaha isn't oblivious to the fact that economic downturns and stock market corrections are going to occur. He just understands that time is working in his favor. Since the end of World War II nearly 80 years ago, the average U.S. recession has lasted only 10 months, and the longest downturn on record endured for just 18 months. In comparison, the typical period of economic growth clocks in at approximately five years, with two growth spurts surpassing the decade mark. Buffett and his team have listened to what history has to say and angled Berkshire Hathaway's investment portfolio to take advantage of long-winded economic expansions. This disparity observed in economic cycles is readily visible in the stock market, as well. In June 2023, which is when the S&P 500 officially entered a new bull market following its 2022 bear market tumble, the analysts at Bespoke Investment Group published a data set on X (formerly Twitter) comparing the length of every S&P 500 bull and bear market dating back to the start of the Great Depression (September 1929). In total, there were 27 separate bull and bear market events covering this nearly 94-year period. Whereas the average S&P 500 bear market resolved in just 286 calendar days, or less than 10 months, the typical bull market endured for 1,011 calendar days, or roughly two years and nine months. The reason Warren Buffett doesn't spend too much of his time worrying about inevitable stock market downturns is because they're short-lived. He relies on this numbers game to put the odds of making money on Wall Street decisively in his favor. Even if history repeats and the priciest stock market on record comes tumbling down at some point in the not-too-distant future, historical precedent also shows that, over multidecade timelines, the S&P 500, Nasdaq Composite, and Dow Jones Industrial Average can be counted on to move progressively higher. Do the experts think S&P 500 Index is a buy right now? The Motley Fool's expert analyst team, drawing on years of investing experience and deep analysis of thousands of stocks, leverages our proprietary Moneyball AI investing database to uncover top opportunities. They've just revealed their to buy now — did S&P 500 Index make the list? When our Stock Advisor analyst team has a stock recommendation, it can pay to listen. After all, Stock Advisor's total average return is up 1,036% vs. just 181% for the S&P — that is beating the market by 855.09%!* Imagine if you were a Stock Advisor member when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $625,254!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,090,257!* The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. 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 July 29, 2025 Sean Williams has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Berkshire Hathaway. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. The Stock Market Has Never Been Pricier, According to Warren Buffett's Favorite Valuation Tool -- and History Is Clear What Happens Next was originally published by The Motley Fool Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
13 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Can XRP Hit Double Digits by 2027?
Key Points XRP is currently the third-largest cryptocurrency by market cap. Many investors believe the token and Ripple, the company behind XRP, have significant potential to disrupt the payments industry. Crypto prices are very difficult to predict. 10 stocks we like better than XRP › XRP (CRYPTO: XRP), the third-largest cryptocurrency in the world, has been on a fantastic run since Donald Trump was elected president last November. The token is up roughly 400% during the past year. Clearly, the Trump administration's pro-crypto policies and more crypto-friendly regulators have made a big difference in XRP's trajectory. With crucial crypto legislation now moving through Congress, the entire sector should benefit. Can XRP, now trading at about $3.10, make another big move during the next few years and hit double digits by 2027? What's ahead The big catalyst that led to the big move for XRP was the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) decision to drop its appeal in a long-standing lawsuit against Ripple, the company behind XRP. The lawsuit had persisted for more than four years and served as a big overhang for XRP. Of course, the SEC did a 180 on crypto after Trump installed Paul Atkins as the new chair of the agency. Now, the question is what's next for XRP. Well, the clear catalyst this year is the potential launch of an SEC-approved XRP-spot exchange-traded fund (ETF). Spot-crypto ETFs mirror the price of cryptocurrencies by actually buying the cryptocurrencies themselves and assigning shares to investors based on how much of the ETF they own. They tend to be bullish for the tokens they mirror because they actually have to buy the cryptocurrencies, and it tends to boost institutional interest and liquidity. The SEC is expected to approve a spot-XRP ETF this year, with Polymarket assigning an 86% probability. But I think markets are likely pricing some of this in already. In my view, the big opportunity for XRP and where it really needs to execute to make a big move is on the potential to tap into cross-border payments. Because XRP's network has the potential to process 1,500 transactions per second (TPS), many see it as an ideal way to move money with lower fees, particularly across national borders. Ripple is already working with mainstream financial institutions and traders, and recently acquired the prime broker Hidden Road for $1.25 billion. Hidden Road clears $3 trillion in trades a year and has over 300 institutional clients, offering a one-stop shop for prime brokerage services and funding across foreign exchange (FX), digital assets, derivatives, swaps, and fixed income. It's easy to see how Ripple could begin to use XRP and its stablecoin, RLUSD, in this institutional business and begin to blur the lines. Ripple's Chief Executive Officer Brad Garlinghouse has also been vocal in his belief that XRP can gain market share in global payments. Earlier this year, Garlinghouse said that SWIFT, the Society of Worldwide Interbank Telecommunication, has a reported error rate of 6%. SWIFT is used by financial institutions to essentially message one another instructions for global payments. Garlinghouse has said he could see XRP capturing 14% of SWIFT's volume by 2029. Crypto prices are hard to predict Making longer-term crypto price predictions is very difficult because cryptocurrencies don't generate cash flows and earnings like traditional stocks. I would ignore most crypto price predictions. However, the one thing investors can do is look at the fundamentals of a cryptocurrency and its network, similar to what they would do if examining a publicly traded company. I certainly find XRP to be an intriguing cryptocurrency because of its strong technical network. I also think having the connection to Ripple will help a lot because Ripple has been able to sign on mainstream banks and institutional traders as customers. Yet, I don't have enough conviction that XRP will be able to grab significant share from SWIFT and really become a prominent force in cross-border payments. I think it could, but there's also competition from cryptocurrencies that run on networks with the ability to process just as many TPS, if not more, so it's hard to say how it will all play out. I think investors can buy and hold XRP, but I would keep positions smaller right now. Should you invest $1,000 in XRP right now? Before you buy stock in XRP, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and XRP 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 $638,629!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,098,838!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,049% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 182% 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 July 29, 2025 Bram Berkowitz has positions in XRP. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends XRP. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Can XRP Hit Double Digits by 2027? was originally published by The Motley Fool Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data