Weekly Market Review – 22nd April 2024

This week’s Market Review- In the US according to the IMF’s latest World Economic Outlook, the US economy is expected to grow by 2.7% in 2024. Sentiment around interest rate cuts became more hawkish last week, with treasury yields rallying. Markets reacted to the threat of a wider conflict in the Middle East with the S&P 500 closing 3.87% lower and the NASDAQ closing 6.14% lower for the week. In Europe, economic sentiment in the bloc’s largest economy, Germany, increased to levels not seen since February 2022. In the UK, inflation data for March was released, coming in at a rate of 3.2%. In Ireland, the CSO released figures from the aviation industry where it was reported that 39.2m people used Irish airports in 2023. In Asia-Pacific news despite the recent negative sentiment, the Chinese economy grew by 5.3% in the first quarter of 2024.