The start of a new quarter did not bring a new market perspective unfortunately. March’s positive performance was followed by extremely poor performance in April. Pessimism remains, with slight earnings disappointments leading to large drops…
Financial markets experienced a challenging February as it grappled with the repercussions of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. During the first half of the month, investors were concerned that global central banks may suppress economic growth in their efforts to get inflation under control by hiking interest rates at a faster pace than anticipated.
After a strong 2021, it has been a testing start to the year for equity markets. Spiralling inflation, concerns about central bank tightening and tensions in Eastern Europe drove the risk-off sentiment and led to a sharp increase in volatility.
November was dominated by rising coronavirus hospitalisations in parts of Europe and concerns about the new Omicron variant. Markets started the month off strongly, with all major US indices reaching new highs, but hawkish remarks from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and uncertainty over the new variant sent markets into a tailspin to conclude the month.
