Last week …
Was another slow one with little drama in the markets and subdued volumes. We are now into the summer season which traditionally means lower volumes.
Whilst volatility has been largely absent, markets have been slowly edging higher and higher. The Stoxx 600, DAX 40 and IBEX 35 all hit record highs last week.
On the other hand, US markets have slowed down in recent weeks as investors have rotated away from Tech stocks.
Oil prices fell for a fourth consecutive week as the Middle East remained relatively calm.
Thursday saw the highest volumes after the latest US jobs figures came in lower than expected. This calmed fears of imminent rate rises and boosted markets. Spanish banks BBVA, Sabadell and Bankinter were all well traded.
The Health Technology sector was one of the few to record a weekly increase. This was largely due to Abivax being a very popular trade, climbing 40% after announcing positive test results for a new drug.
Friday was the quietest day by far due to the US holiday.
This week …
Looks like another quiet one. There are few Economic events scheduled and no significant data releases.
There will be interest in the FOMC minutes from the latest meeting as investors try to garner more information on the new Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh.
Other than that though, we don’t have too much to go on. Earnings season starts next week and will slowly ramp up.
Any volatility that does arise this week is likely to be come from the usual two sources. The Middle East or the Tech sector.
Of course, we also have Donald Trump who can generate new volatility at any time. With the Middle East taking less of his attention at the moment, he now appears to have an interest in getting red cards overturned at the World Cup. Will he pivot to something else this week?
Will the recent rotation away from the Tech sector continue? The upcoming earnings season will be very interesting as one or two unremarkable updates from constituents of the magnificent seven could trigger a market wide sell off. When will the huge AI investment start to show some significant returns?
Could be a slow week then, maybe not. Let’s see.
That’s all from me, until next week… Happy investing!
Carl
