August largely preserved July’s benign market conditions, characterized by tight credit spreads, subdued volatility, and broad-based gains. Market breadth improved as the S&P 500 set new highs while megacap technology underperformed (+1.4%) and small caps advanced strongly; Japan and China outperformed, whereas Europe was comparatively subdued. Dollar weakness supported non-US
Markets remained stable in July 2025 despite trade uncertainty, as the US secured favorable tariff deals with Japan, the EU, and the UK, boosting its political and economic position. Strong US economic data, upbeat corporate earnings especially in AI and expectations of future rate cuts supported equities, with tech stocks
A quarter which began with Trump’s Liberation Day reciprocal tariffs announcement, delivering a seismic shock to global financial markets and one of the sharpest two-day falls on record on Wall Street, ended with a few equity market indices at all-time highs. In between were threats to remove Powell as Chair
The topsy-turvy tariff saga again dominated markets, but increasingly with a ‘TACO’ theme: Trump Always Chickens Out. De-escalation of tariff concerns along with a stream of positive AI related news underpinned risk assets in May, despite a mid-month wobble as debt sustainability concerns triggered a rise in bond yields, especially
February has been a volatile month, mostly thanks to the sweeping and immediate impact of the new Trump administration’s policies, from aggressive trade tariffs to dramatic federal government restructuring and geopolitical interventions, including progress toward resolving the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Gaza conflicts. The US has pivoted its security focus toward China,
January’s market saw volatility due to Trump’s aggressive tariff policies on imports from Mexico, Canada, China, and potentially the EU. While US growth remained strong early in the month, the emergence of China’s DeepSeek AI led to a sharp sell-off in tech stocks, particularly semiconductors like Nvidia, which lost $500bn
In December, financial markets experienced weakness across most asset classes and regions. As inflation proved slower to normalise than initially anticipated, major central banks adopted a cautious approach to policy, aiming to prevent inflation running out of control. This tempered market expectations regarding the pace and magnitude of future interest
For the second year in a row, global equities are on course for double-digit gains, far out-pacing returns from bond markets. So far this year, only gold of the major asset classes has outshone equities, with a gain of close to 30%. Within equities, the US has become all-dominant, driven
In October, the most notable development was a sharp rise in bond yields, reversing much of the decline seen in Q3. This resulted in a challenging month for bonds, which weighed on valuations across most asset classes—though gold was a notable exception. Much of this shift was attributed to what