Daily Brief | August 28 2025

Top News

·     The U.S. economy rebounded in the second quarter of 2025.

·     U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has requested an internal investigation within the Fed following allegations of alleged fraud against Governor Lisa Cook, raising concerns among observers.

·     The Trump administration is seeking to expand its influence over the Federal Reserve’s regional banks, sparking alarms about a potential impact on monetary policy independence.

·     Initial jobless claims stood at 229,000 for the week ending August 23, slightly below the consensus expectation of 230,000 and down from 234,000 the previous week.

·     Japan’s chief trade negotiator canceled a visit to Washington intended to finalize a USD 550 billion investment package, due to administrative hurdles surrounding the tariff agreement.

Economic Outlook

The U.S. economy rebounded in the second quarter of 2025. According to the second of three estimates from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), U.S. GDP grew at an annualized, seasonally adjusted rate of 3.3% q/q between April and June—a marked recovery following the -0.5% contraction in the first quarter of the year. The figure was revised upward from the initially estimated 3.0%, mainly due to stronger private consumption—both goods and services—and a decline in imports, which contribute positively to GDP calculation. However, weak business investment and a drop in exports limited an even stronger expansion. In terms of domestic demand, final sales to private domestic purchasers rose 1.9% annualized, a notable upward revision from the previously reported 1.2%. As for prices, the PCE inflation index increased by 2.0% annualized (previously 2.1%), while the core index remained unchanged at 2.5%, suggesting that inflationary pressures remain contained despite the economic rebound.

Markets and Stocks

In the U.S., futures of the main indices traded slightly higher as the market digested Nvidia’s results and macro data. Nvidia beat expectations on revenue and earnings, but its sales guidance (~$54 billion) and a second consecutive weak read in data centers pressured the stock. Meanwhile, U.S. Q2 GDP was revised to 3.3% annualized, with immediate focus shifting to July’s PCE release on Friday. In Europe, markets showed gains, while Asia also closed positive, in a context where the Bank of Korea held its policy rate at 2.5%.

In commodities, oil pulled back after the prior rally, despite a 2.4 million barrel draw in U.S. inventories and geopolitical risks to energy infrastructure. Gold, meanwhile, held near a more than two-week high, supported by a slightly weaker dollar.

In fixed income, U.S. Treasury yields remained stable: the 10-year yield around 4.23% and the 2-year near 3.64%, with investors awaiting the PCE index

Corporate News

– Nvidia reported quarterly revenue of $46.7 billion (+56% y/y) and earnings above estimates, but its data center sales fell short of expectations for the second consecutive quarter. In addition, its $54 billion guidance for Q3 remained below forecasts, raising concerns about a potential slowdown in AI infrastructure spending and the lack of H20 chip sales in China.

– CrowdStrike posted Q2 revenue of $1.17 billion, beating expectations. However, the company projected sales slightly below estimates, fueling concerns that its recovery following the 2024 global outage still faces challenges. The firm also announced the acquisition of Onum to strengthen its real-time data management offering.

– Snowflake surprised to the upside with quarterly product revenue of $1.09 billion (+32% y/y) and raised its annual guidance to $4.4 billion, surpassing market projections. The results eased worries about competitive pressure from new AI players, supported by greater adoption of its tools to integrate generative AI into its platform.