Both the US Federal Reserve (the Fed) and the European central bank (ECB) raised interest rates last week by 25 basis points (bp) to 5% – 5.25% and 3.25% respectively. The Fed is expected to stop while the ECB could raise rates further, to…
It was the big tech earnings that dominated the releases last week. Meta (the parent company of Facebook and Instagram) and Microsoft reported earnings that were stronger than analysts’ expectations. That created a strong momentum, pushing the US stock market upwards. Even weaker earnings…
Last week was relatively uneventful in terms of major data releases; other than the UK, where inflation remained above 10% and retail sales remained weak. The causality between these two indicators is clear, as high inflation reduces consumers’ purchasing power, leading to lower retail…
Last week was a short one, since Easter Monday was a holiday in many countries. So the low volume of data released is no surprise. One of the two key releases was retail sales data in the US and Europe – slightly weak in…
Last week saw the release of soft manufacturing numbers out of the US. The job creation data from JOLTs and ADP, released mid-week, was also uneven. Unlike the contraction in manufacturing, however, data on services was much better, showing continuing expansion. In contrast, the…
Last week saw a strong performance for equity markets, with the US markets up 3% and European markets up almost 5%. This is welcome news for investors who have been grappling with market volatility over the past few months. The added liquidity and reassuring…
