The key factors driving markets in the first quarter of the year continued through April. Economic growth has remained resilient, labour markets strong and the earlier falls in inflation have slowed. The long period of high inflation, aggressive monetary tightening and geopolitical uncertainty have not damaged economies as much as
Since late February, the gold price has soared to new heights in nominal terms, trading at 2,349 dollars per troy ounce. There are various contributing factors including anticipated delays to rate cuts following stickier-than-expected inflation; rising geopolitical risks in the Middle East; and a weakening US dollar. The two biggest
Share repurchasing, commonly known as buybacks, entails a company repurchasing its own shares from the market, subsequently retiring, or holding them as treasury stock. This strategy diminishes the number of outstanding shares, thereby augmenting earnings per share (EPS) and the company's stock price, given constant or growing earnings. The efficacy
Global developed equities ended the first quarter strongly with both the US and Japan equity indices reaching all-time highs1. However, these gains were largely skewed towards the larger cap stocks. This is even more prominent in the case of the US market where a handful of mega cap stocks, namely
Three critical connected factors drove markets in Q1: economic activity across the developed world surprised on the upside; inflation proved to be more persistent; and labour markets remained tight. The probability of recession has fallen, that of a soft landing increased. As a result, market expectations for cuts in policy
In recent years, the UK investment trust sector has found itself navigating through challenging times. Changes in regulations and the overall economic environment have made things tough. But despite these challenges, it’s important to remember why investment trusts are valuable, especially in terms of diversification and accessing long-term investment opportunities
Equity markets continued to surprise on the upside with a gain in February of 4.2% in developed markets (MSCI World index) and 4.8% in emerging markets (MSCI Emerging Markets index). MSCI World has returned 11% so far this year, 23% since the current surge in markets started in late October
Markets began to consolidate in January and returns ended the month in a more mixed fashion, compared to the ‘(almost) everything rally’ seen in Q4 2023. Global developed and US equities both continued their momentum to reach all-time highs, returning 1.2% and 1.7% respectively. Equity markets in Asia continued to
Following a bruising 3 months, equity and bond markets came back with a bang in November, in most cases recovering all the ground lost since July, in an almost unbroken run of gains through the month. The extraordinary shift in risk appetite saw global developed world equities return 9.4% in