Weekly Market Review – 08th April 2024

This week’s Market Review- In the US, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell commented on inflation and interest rates. Powell stated that while positive steps have been taken on inflation rates, there was still caution around the timing and the amount of interest rate cuts. In Europe, inflation within the Eurozone slowed to a rate of 2.4% in March, lower than the Bloomberg poll figure of 2.6%. In the UK, following almost 2 years of contraction, manufacturing in the country returned to growth with UK manufacturing PMIs revised to 50.3. In Ireland, the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) announced it would be investing €280m in three separate climate related investments. The ISEQ also hit its highest level on record last week. In Asia-Pacific, news lawmakers in the US announced plans to stop index funds based in the US from investing in Chinese companies.