Last week …
Was our quietest week for some time. Volumes were lower across most markets whilst Friday saw a tech sector sell off after underwhelming results from Broadcom.
Madrid volumes were 23% lower than the previous week. Paris on the other hand saw a weekly increase and were our most traded market last week.
US jobs figures came in much better than expected on Friday which further fuelled selling as any chance of a rate cut now appears to be gone. The S&P 500 closed the week down 2% breaking a nine-week winning run.
The health technology sector saw the biggest increase in volumes last week, rising 36% on the previous week. French company Abivax was the main catalyst with shares dropping 20% helping it into the top five most traded stocks on Equiduct.
Santander was our most traded stock every day last week bar Tuesday which saw ASML take top spot. Inditex was our second most traded stock on Wednesday after announcing positive early summer trading figures.
This week …
The main event this week is the start of the World Cup! 😊 There will also be some interest around US and Chinese inflation numbers and the ECB interest rate decision on Thursday.
The Middle East conflict continues to rumble on with Israel and Iran trading missile strikes over the weekend. It’s hard to see a lasting peace agreement being agreed anytime soon. It will be a significant boost to markets when it does finally happen.
US inflation numbers will be the subject of much scrutiny on Wednesday following on from the positive jobs update last Friday. If inflation numbers are higher than expected than it will dampen markets further and raise the prospect of an interest rate hike before the end of the year. Inflation was expected to spike more than it has by this point, especially with the rise in oil prices. If it does suddenly jump upwards expect panic start to set in amongst some investors. An interest rate increase is already priced in ahead of the ECB’s latest update on Thursday.
Friday’s tech sector sell off was interesting and shows the fear of an AI bubble is still present. Broadcom’s numbers were far from terrible, and the market almost expects perfection when it comes to Tech stocks these days. It wouldn’t take much to spark a much bigger sell off so it will be interesting to see how the sector fares in the coming months.
Anyway, back to the important stuff. Will England lose on penalties again? Can Ronaldo finally win a world cup? Will the French make three finals in a row? The smart money is on…..Argentina to go back-to-back!
That’s all from me, until next week… Happy investing!
Carl
