November 2024

The UK budget and US elections are two major events for financial markets in recent weeks and quite rightly dominated the news headlines. The initial market reaction has been positive for equities, with US stock benchmarks rallying to new record highs. UK gilts have...

October 2024

Central banks took centre stage in Q3, as the Bank of England and Federal Reserve delivered their first interest rate cuts in over four years. Markets generally welcomed the moves with Wall Street and global stock benchmarks hitting fresh all-time highs, although...

September 2024

Stock markets recovered from a bout of strong selling in early August to end the month slightly higher. A series of factors contributed to the market swoon, as corporate earnings from market leaders, central banks refraining from strong dovish shifts and a soft US job...

July 2024

Last week was marked by a flurry of quarterly earnings reports and one major rate cut, the MSCI All Country World Index (MSCI ACWI) saw a decrease of 2.0%, (9.7%YTD). In the US, last week’s nonfarm payrolls report brought a slower-than expected growth in the labour...

April 2024

Global stock markets have begun 2024 in much the same vein as they ended last year, with the first quarter seeing sizable gains in US and continental European equities. The MSCI AC World index returned 9.5% in the first quarter, in sterling terms. The persistence of...

March 2024

Global stock markets have enjoyed a bright start to 2024, building on substantial returns in 2023. Early last year pessimism reigned supreme, and the pleasing market returns since have largely been a result of the alleviation of doom and gloom, rather than major...