Weekly Market Review – 20th of May 2024

In this week’s Market Review- In the US, the US government increased import tariffs significantly on a number of key products from China. Overall, up to $18bn worth of Chinese products will be impacted by the tariffs. Inflation data for the US was released, with the rate of inflation for April coming in at 3.4%, slightly lower than the March rate of 3.5%. In Europe economic sentiment for Germany, the EU’s largest single economy, increased to multi year highs last week. In the UK, the chief economist of the Bank of England (BoE), Huw Pill, reinforced the view last week that the BoE may consider interest rate cuts in the Summer. In Ireland, it was reported that Intel has entered into talks with private equity group Apollo Global to fund an $11bn semiconductor plant at the company’s existing campus in Leixlip, Kildare. In Asia-Pacific news Chinese Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into countries in Eastern Europe, North Africa and Central Asia has far outpaced that of US and European FDI in 2023. These regions received 39% of their total FDI from China in 2023.