Last week …
Was unspectacular but steady. Volumes of €2.4billion brought another solid month for Equiduct to an end. Average daily volumes in May were up 15% on May 2025.
The major indices in the US and Asia hit new highs whilst the STOXX 600 in Europe finished marginally up on the week and 2.5% up on the month.
Oil prices dropped as hopes for a Middle East peace agreement were raised, resulting in gains for banking and airline sectors.
Madrid had a noticeably busier week and was comfortably clear as the most traded market on Equiduct.
We had market holidays for several markets on Monday but that didn’t stop it being the second busiest day of the week.
Santander was the most traded stock on Equiduct last week but by less than €10million with Sabadell a close second. Sabadell was the most traded stock Monday through to Wednesday after completing the sale of TSB to Santander and the payment of an extraordinary cash dividend to investors.
This week …
Looks fairly quiet on paper but any developments in the Middle East could change that very quickly.
The main economic event of the week is US non-farm payrolls on Friday where a rise in unemployment is expected.
The US/Israel war against Iran is now three months old with hopes raised of a peace deal at the end of last week. Nothing materialised over the weekend however and tit for tat strikes continued.
This conflict will continue to dominate markets until a resolution is found. We could get a peace deal this week, or an escalation in violence is also a possibility. There isn’t too much more to say about it.
AI driven increases have boosted US markets in recent weeks whilst Europe continues to be held back by energy price fears. How much further can AI push markets? Is a correction on the horizon?
We’re now into June and approaching the time of year when volumes tend to dip a little. That could well be the case again but with several volatile geopolitical situations continuing to bubble away, fresh market volatility could be just around the corner.
That’s all from me, until next week… Happy investing!
Carl
