General
September 12, 2025
Written by Curation
Source: Connect Weekly | Week ending September 13, 2025
US equities pushed higher this week, with the S&P 500 notching multiple record closes as softer producer prices gave bulls cover to keep bidding stocks up. AI-adjacent names and select tech heavyweights drove leadership, though the rally broadened meaningfully by Thursday with the strongest breadth in months. In the UK, political upheaval and stagnating GDP added pressure to Labour ahead of a testing Autumn budget.
What drove markets this week?
Monday’s quiet grind higher gave way to fresh records on Tuesday as Alphabet, Meta, Nvidia, and Amazon led the charge, even as Apple slipped post-product launch. UnitedHealth soared nearly 9% on Medicare plan upgrades, offsetting weakness in lithium giant Albemarle. Wednesday brought the real fuel: a surprise fall in producer prices boosted rate-cut hopes and propelled Oracle to a 36% moonshot on a $300bn OpenAI-linked deal, carrying the S&P 500 to fresh highs. Thursday saw follow-through as CPI landed broadly in line, but hotter month-on-month data kept a double cut off the table. Even so, breadth surged, with advancers overwhelming decliners in the strongest tilt since May.
Tech fireworks, but not all equal
Oracle’s monster move underscored how single names can still drive index-level gains, with Oracle, Nvidia, and Broadcom accounting for more than twice the S&P 500’s daily return midweek. Yet the Nasdaq 100 lagged on Wednesday, showing how concentration cuts both ways when hyperscalers like Amazon underperform. By Thursday, leadership widened to cyclicals and small caps, suggesting the rally is beginning to broaden beyond just mega-cap tech.
UK woes deepen
UK politics delivered more turbulence as Peter Mandelson was removed as ambassador to Washington over Epstein links, following Angela Rayner’s resignation earlier in the week. Meanwhile, July GDP figures showed the economy flatlining, a sign that growth headwinds are mounting just as Chancellor Rachel Reeves faces her toughest budget yet. The FTSE 100 underperformed peers as bank and consumer names drifted lower.
Looking ahead
With US indices sitting at record highs, the debate now shifts to whether inflation progress justifies aggressive Fed easing. The likelihood of a 50bp double cut has diminished after CPI, but September’s meeting still looks set to deliver policy relief. Next week brings retail sales and housing data, which will test whether resilient consumers can keep the recovery narrative intact.
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