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WTF Dailies July 24, 2025

Most Asian stocks rose on Thursday, with Japanese markets near record highs on sustained optimism over a U.S. trade deal, while technology shares were buoyed by strong earnings from Google owner Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL).

Sage Kakkat

23 Jul 2025 — 6 min read

US stock futures were mixed after Google-parent Alphabet (GOOG) and Tesla (TSLA) reported earnings.
Most Asian stocks rose on Thursday, with Japanese markets near record highs on sustained optimism over a U.S. trade deal, while technology shares were buoyed by strong earnings from Google owner Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL).
Strong earnings from Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) supplier SK Hynix Inc (KS:000660) also boosted Asian tech, especially as the memory chip giant flagged expectations for robust artificial intelligence-fueled demand.
Regional markets took positive cues from a record-high overnight close on Wall Street, as investors cheered a Japan-U.S. trade deal and held out hope for more such agreements before an August 1 deadline.
In addition to Alphabet’s earnings, tech shares were also encouraged by President Donald Trump flagging more policy support for the AI industry. This helped markets look past steep losses in Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), after it clocked an underwhelming second quarter.
Japanese shares continued to outpace their peers after Tokyo and Washington agreed to a trade deal on Wednesday. The Nikkei 225 rose 1.9% and was near record-high levels last seen in July 2024, while the TOPIX surged 1.9% to a record high of 2,982.14 points.
Japan will face a 15% tariff on exports to the U.S., a smaller duty than the 25% initially threatened by Trump. Japanese automobiles will also face a 15% duty, which is lower than a 25% U.S. duty on foreign automobiles.
The deal cleared up some uncertainty over the impact of U.S. tariffs on the Japanese economy, although the 15% duty is still expected to provide some headwinds.
Optimism over the trade deal also saw Japanese markets largely rise past purchasing managers index data that showed the country’s manufacturing sector unexpectedly shrank in July. But services activity picked up.
Broader Asian markets rose, with tech-heavy indexes leading gains as Trump’s summit and positive corporate earnings kept investors upbeat on AI.
South Korea’s KOSPI rose 0.9%, buoyed by a near 2% rise in SK Hynix. The firm clocked a record-high second-quarter profit, and forecast few chances of a slowdown in AI-fueled demand.
SK Hynix rival Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (KS:005930) rose marginally.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.5% on gains in tech, although bigger advances were held back by a mixed performance in electric vehicle stocks.
China’s Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 and Shanghai Composite indexes rose 0.3% each, while Singapore’s Straits Times index added 0.5%.
Regional tech stocks took positive cues from Alphabet, which clocked consensus-beating Q2 earnings and said it was raising its capital spending to account for more AI and cloud demand.
Additionally, Trump signed three executive orders aimed at boosting the U.S. AI industry. The president also outlined plans to ramp up U.S. exports of AI technology.
Among broader Asian markets, Australia’s ASX 200 fell 0.1% amid some profit-taking at recent record highs.
Gift Nifty 50 Futures for India’s Nifty 50 index were flat, although the index remained buoyed by strong corporate earnings. Tech major Infosys Ltd (NSE:INFY) is expected to rise after it clocked strong June quarter earnings on Wednesday.

Market Close

Rallying technology stocks helped pushed the S&P 500 and NASDAQ indexes to new record highs at close of trading today. Markets reacted positively to signals of strong demand for AI investment in Alphabet's Q2 report, although Tesla's weak results took some of the shine off the tech sector. Outside mega cap tech stocks, performance was mixed, with the Dow Jones and Russell 2000 small cap indexes both losing ground. The tone in international equity markets overnight was positive, with the Nikkei continuing to lead following the announcement of a US-Japan trade agreement, and European and Korean equities also gaining, helped by reports that similar deals could be in the works for these countries. Government bond yields were broadly flat over the day, as was the US dollar against a basket of trade weighted currencies.
The US-Japan trade agreement was the sixth announced since "liberation day", and reports suggest that similar deals might be close for the EU and Korea. Headlines indicate that these would also enforce a 15% tariff rate on imports, below the levels threatened for August 1^st. Reports also suggest that Korea will commit to investment in the US as part of this agreement, similar to the deal reached with Japan. If confirmed, these deals would help ease uncertainty over trade policy and avert even more damaging tariff hikes. However, a 15% tariff still delivers a material increase in taxes on trade, and Present Trump signaled that this would represent a floor on US tariff rates, with some partners potentially hit by up to 50% levies. Vietnam has estimated that its deal, which charges 20% on exports produced predominately in their economy, and 40% that are transshipped from China through Vietnam, would in time cut exports to the US by a third.
US initial unemployment insurance claims were a touch lower last week, providing another signal that tariff uncertainty is not pushing firms to trim their payrolls. However, those who are unemployed, continue to struggle to find work, with continuing claims edging higher again. The US economy has clearly slowed this year, with growth tracking at around a 1% annualized pace over the first half. This moderation is likely to persist into the second half of 2025 in our view, with tariffs likely to squeeze firms' margins, discouraging hiring or investment, or hurt consumer purchasing power if these taxes are passed through to consumers via higher prices. Strong balance sheets should help the economy weather these headwinds without falling into a recession in our view, and there is some hope that activity could bounce back somewhat in 2026 as the impact of tariffs starts to fade, and a modest boost from tax cuts and deregulation kicks in. In Canada, the near-term picture is even more challenging, reflected by this morning's weak retail sales report and recent increases in unemployment. Certainly, Prime Minister Carney will hope that a trade deal can be reached with the US to limit disruptions from a trade war with its largest trade partner.

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