News & Insight • Weekly Newsletters

30 May 2025 | William Buckhurst

That Was The Week That Was

MACRO

Two days after a US Court ruled against the legality of Trump’s tariffs, the President said he would double steel and aluminium tariffs to 50%.

Unsurprisingly, US imports fell by the most since records began last month. Imports of goods for April totalled $276.1bn, down 19.8% from March.

Meanwhile, Trump stepped up his war of words against Jerome Powell, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve. In their first face-to-face meeting since Trump resumed office, the President told Powell he was making a “mistake” by not loosening monetary policy.

After a steep ascent, yields on ultra-long Japanese government bonds (JGBs) fell sharply this week after reports that the country's finance ministry would issue fewer longer-dated bonds.

COMPANY NEWS

• Nvidia reported quarterly revenue of $44.1bn, up 12% on the quarter and 69% year-on-year. It did say, however, that it missed out on $2.5bn in sales during the last quarter thanks to the China export restrictions on its H20 chip
• McKinsey’s annual report highlighted some of the challenges facing global consultancy firms as it revealed it had cut more than 10% of its staff over the last eighteen months
• Shares in Salesforce finished higher on the week after announcing that it had agreed to buy software company Informatica. Salesforce announced that it had agreed to purchase the company for $8bn and would pay $25 per share in cash, around a 30% premium to its closing price on Thursday before news of a potential deal was reported and would be financed through a mixture of cash and new debt.  Salesforce reportedly first started talks to acquire the company last year which fell through while Informatica’s shares have declined as much as 60% since. Informatica competes against Salesforce’s MuleSoft and so the deal is likely to attract regulatory scrutiny
• Macy’s beat expectations on both top and bottom lines. However, management commented that the revised outlook was based on current information to account for factors including initial and current tariffs, some moderation in consumer discretionary spending and a heighted competitive promotional landscape
• Shares in Synopsys finished lower on the week having produced reassuring results. Both Synopsys and Cadence were hit very hard by a media report stating that the chip design companies would be banned from selling to China
• Shares in French semiconductor firm Soitec declined sharply after the company withdrew its guidance, citing uncertainty and lower visibility and that it would now only provide revenue guidance on a quarterly basis, seeing like for like revenue down 20% year-on-year

RHODE TO RICHES

Hayley Bieber - she of 55 million Instagram followers, 15 million TikTok fans, a celebrity Rolodex to envy, and, of course, wife of Justin Bieber - sold her cosmetics brand, Rhode, to E.L.F. Beauty this week for a staggering $1bn.

Remarkably, Rhode has only ten products and has been in business for just three years. It’s a striking example of the growing power of celebrity to drive brand influence and monetisation. Skincare, in particular, lends itself perfectly to the short-form video format, making it highly effective for digital marketing.

While Mrs. Bieber hasn’t publicly disclosed her stake in the company, it’s believed to be between 50% and 70%. Publicly listed E.L.F. has announced plans to expand Rhode’s product range into Sephora stores, which are owned by LVMH.

BUY BRITISH

We moved one step closer this week to a highly unusual step by UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves to force large defined contribution pension funds to invest in private British assets. The Treasury said on Thursday: “The government will take a reserve power in the Pension Schemes Bill to set binding asset allocation targets”.

The Chancellor hopes creating pension “megafunds” with more than £25bn in assets, coupled with a voluntary accord with industry to boost allocations to private assets, will reverse long-term falls in investment in the UK.

According the to the Financial Times, the UK has about 60 multi-employer DC pension schemes, with combined assets forecast to reach £800bn in five years.

The proposals draw inspiration from Canadian and Australian pension systems where large, consolidated funds have successfully invested in domestic infrastructure projects.

The Treasury said that the proposals would release £25bn for UK investment by 2030, while a similar amount would come from local investment targets from local government pension schemes.

THE WEEK IN HISTORY

1906: the San Francisco Stock Exchange reopens after the 1906 earthquake on April 18th. The earthquake was one of the worst in American history. 80% of the city was destroyed and 3,000 died from the 7.9 magnitude earthquake.

1962: an early “flash crash” as, on the worst day since the Great Depression, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell almost 6% on one vertiginous Monday in May.