Weekly Market Review – 27th of May 2024

In this week’s Market Review:

• In the US, the Federal Open Market Committee released the minutes of its latest meeting last week, agreeing that the medium term expectation was that inflation would slow to the 2% target rate, and that maintaining rates at their current level was the best course of action. The first rate cut is likely to occur in the Autumn. For the week overall the S&P 500 closed 0.21% lower, while the NASDAQ closed 1.09% higher.
• In Europe , the  EU’s trade surplus with the US also hit a record high in Q1 2024, reaching €43.6bn, an increase of 27% compared to 2023. In equities, the Eurostoxx 50 and STOXX 600 both closed lower.
• In the UK, the rate of inflation eased to 2.3%, which was the lowest annual inflation rate since July 2021 and in other significant news, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called a snap General Election for July 4^th.  
• In Ireland, the EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act came into force last week, placing Ireland as a potential key player in the production of critical raw materials in the transition to green energy, reducing reliance by the EU on imports from China. 
• In Asia-Pacific news,  amid ongoing tensions with the US, Chinese authorities have implored indigenous automakers in the country to source up to 25% of their total semiconductor capacity from companies within mainland China.