Market Wrap-Up For Last Week!

Weekly Data Summary Report

As of​ August 11, 2025 

Unlike any other week, which was filled with several economic indicators, last week was more about Trump’s events, including the rigged labor data, trade war, potential candidates for the Federal Reserve governor, and the FED chair. 

Disclaimer: Please note this is opinion-based; do not take it as investment advice.

Key Highlight Event:

Rigged Labor Data: Trump continues to conclude that Friday’s labor data was rigged and false, although no evidence was found. Despite this, this still raises some questions regarding the repeated revisions of the job data that could change the entire scenario of the recent labor conditions. 

The Federal Reserve Selection: After Trump picked Miran as the Federal Reserve governor, rumors started to fuel that Trump’s team will likely explore more options for the Federal Reserve Chair after being narrowed down to 3 candidates last time. The current candidates now after being added, are Fed President James Bullard, Marc Sumerlin, Kevin Hassett, Christopher Waller, and Kevin Warsh. 

Trade War: In the process of ending the Russia-Ukraine war, Trump imposed a 50% tariff in total for India on purchasing Russian oil, while China is still being considered to impose one as well. Meanwhile, chips and semiconductors are now being tariffed at 100%, which could fuel more inflation expectations coming in, although some major companies such as APPLE, NVIDIA, or TSMC are exempted for making a big investment in the US. 

Russia-Ukraine: Trump said he will have a meeting with Putin next Friday in Alaska, although the whole progress has not been disclosed yet. Gold prices reacted quickly downward after hearing about a meeting with Russia, as the market believes that this could tone down some tensions not only with this war but also the war between the US and China for oil purchases. And even Canada also supported ending this war, through an intended restriction and lowering the price cap for seaborne Russian-origin crude oil from $60 to $47.60 per barrel. 

Economic Calendar:

The BOE cut the rate while signaling a hawkish statement that sparked the GBPUSD higher after the data was released. The vote for the rate cut was reduced from the projected 8 votes to 5, and the remaining support for the rate was unchanged.

As for the Purchasing Managers’ Index report, the majority of economies are pointing toward inflation concerns, while some business activities are contracting to some extent. Except for Europe, where inflation is now easing, but the outlook does not offer any better conditions, and that could push the European Central Bank to reduce the rate.