The US tech selloff continued last week amid a deepening market rout as Wall Street picked up on a growing cacophony of recession warnings that included the president's refusal to rule one out.
The market euphoria of Trump's return to the White House, with his promise to take an axe to regulations, now seems a distant memory as growing concerns about all-out global trade war and slowing growth take hold. The S&P 500 (^SPX) is down about 8% in the last month.
Strategists have been raising their bets on a US economic downturn, adding to what some predict will be a prolonged bout of volatility for stocks.
There was bad news this side of the Atlantic too, with data showing a contraction in the UK economy at the start of the year.
Here are some highlights from the last seven days, plus a glimpse at the week ahead.
Silicon Valley's finest have not been looking quite so magnificent this year. A maelstrom of headwinds including the prospect of US recession and the long-term consequences of an intensifying global trade war have weighed heavily on all but one of the Mag 7 elites' share price in 2025.
America's tech titans took a massive hit when China's low-cost DeepSeek chatbot burst onto the scene in January, raising serious questions in investors' minds about their seemingly boundless investment in AI.
Between them, the Magnificent 7 have lost roughly the equivalent in market value of Spain's entire economy since the start of the year.
The US president's determination to prioritise his trade penalties agenda above all else has come as a shock to traders, who expected him to pivot quickly when the pain got too much for the markets. After all, he had often done this during his first term.
Investors have struggled to make sense of his apparent willingness to shrug off huge market losses. The Yahoo Finance US team brought some clarity.
Reeves during a visit to Babcock in Rosyth to talk about growing the defence sector to kickstart economic growth. (Photo by Mike Boyd/PA Images via Getty Images) ·Mike Boyd - PA Images via Getty Images
The week ended on a low as data revealed the UK's economic growth had unexpected dipped in January as weak factory output tarnished the overall picture. The slight drop in GDP took economists and the government by surprise, and prompted warnings about a possible recession from some analysts.
Significantly, it was the last data print before the spring statement later this month, when chancellor Rachel Reeves will present an update on her plans to boost growth.
"The world has changed and across the globe we are feeling the consequences," she acknowledged.
A volley of flip-flopping trade tariff announcements from the US president and his souring attitude towards Ukraine and Europe ensured February was a rollercoaster for financial markets.
Against this backdrop of heightened economic and geopolitical uncertainty, we took a look at the stocks investors had gravitated towards.
Do also check out our money stories for all your personal finance needs. Volatility in the digital currency markets is a well known hazard for investors, but there's another potential pitfall that tends to be overlooked:The hidden cryptocurrency investing risk no-one is talking about
Four central banks are due to to decide on interest rates. The Bank of England will make its call on Thursday, with the market expecting it to leave the base rate at 4.5% but to lay the groundwork for two more quarter-point cuts to 4% by year end.
On Wednesday, the Bank of Japan is expected to leave rates unchanged at 0.5%, a 17-year high. The US Federal Reserve is forecast to stand pat as well on Wednesday, at 4.5%.
The Swiss National Bank, meeting on Thursday, is seen as very likely to cut by one quarter of a percentage point to 0.25%.
Economists and investors will also be on the look-out for any comment with regard to the four banks' respective quantitative tightening (QT) programmes, according to AJ Bell. All four are shrinking their balance sheets as a further means of tightening monetary policy in the fight against inflation, after the first rapid expansion in the wake of the financial crisis and then the second phase of bond buying after COVID.
End note: London book fair
Some 30,000 agents, authors and publishers descended on the capital this week to thrash out deals and discuss the future of publishing.
