Weekly Market Commentary: S&P 500 Slips to Decline for Second Consecutive Week

Sunflower Bank Weekly Market Commentary: June 23, 2025

Each week, our Wealth Management team analyzes the U.S. stock market and bond market activity and news of the previous week, summarizing their findings into a weekly market update report. The key points of this week's commentary, "S&P 500 Slips to Decline for Second Consecutive Week," include:

• The S&P 500 declined for the second consecutive week, the first string of declines since the Liberation Day tariff announcement in April. Geopolitical tensions in the Middle East have dominated the headlines as the conflict between Israel and Iran escalated further.
• Bombings in the Middle East continued last week and over the weekend. The attack raises the prospect that Iran will restrict passage through the Strait of Hormuz – a critical route for transporting crude oil from major oil producing countries. Although a sizeable portion of the world’s crude flows through the Strait of Hormuz – the EIA estimates 20% – much of that goes to Asian markets. Less than 5% of the US’s crude oil imports transit the Strait.
• The June FOMC meeting occurred on Wednesday, and the Committee voted to leave the benchmark interest rate unchanged as expected. This month’s meeting included an update of the Summary of Economic Projections. Fed officials' median projection of rate cuts this calendar year was unchanged at 50-basis points. However, seven officials now expect zero rate cuts in 2025, as compared to four officials with this view in March.

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