Weekly Market Review – 12th February 2024

In our Seaspray Private Weekly Market Review we examine the key macro-economic and market-related data both from an international, and domestic front. Our Global Financial headlines reviews the key market related stories from the US, Europe, UK, Ireland, and Asia-Pacific while our market movers section highlights movement in the key equity indices, interest rates, fixed income, and major FX currencies. As part of our detailed analysis, we take a look at movement in the major asset classes over the past week, with a particular focus on equities, bonds, and commodities.

Equities, Bonds & Commodities

On equities, we report on the S&P 500 and NASDAQ performance from the US while focusing our attention on the performance of the FTSE 100 in the UK, and in Europe on Eurostoxx 600 and the Eurostoxx 50. The review finishes with a summary of the key movements in global bond yields and commodities prices while providing a summary of the key events to watch out for in the coming week. As an investor, the review will provide you with a timely and insightful commentary on the financial markets.

This week’s Market Review looks at the US budget deficit. Recent estimates released by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), sees an increase of almost two thirds in the deficit within the next 10 years The main driver – interest payments on the debt. The government’s national debt recently topped $34 trillion, a new record. In Europe- good news on energy usage, with coal and gas emissions falling by 19% in 2023. Indeed, for the first time ever, wind energy is actually now producing more electricity across the EU than gas. In Asia-Pacific: we saw – Chinese consumer prices fall at the fastest annual rate in 15 years. The consumer price index (CPI) fell 0.8% in January, the fourth straight month of declines.