The Weekly View 12th August 2024

Welcome to the Unio Weekly View for the week beginning 12th August, our summary of markets and macro news.

Watch this week's investment brief in full:

In summary:

- Despite a volatile start in equity markets last week, by the close of business on Friday, the MSCI World had made back all its losses from Monday’s sell off, breaking even for the week.

- On a regional basis, European stocks traded highest, closing out the week up 0.4% leaving YTD gains of 7.0% compared to 13.8% in the US.

- Fixed income yields also ticked higher, in particular in the US where the 10 year yield jumped 0.14% to 3.94% over further recession fears. It also didn’t help that oil prices ticked up 4.4%, adding further pressure to the future inflation outlook.

- Looking ahead to this week, US and UK inflation data will be released on the 14th and will no doubt be watched closely, due to the impact it could have on rate cutting cycles in September. From an earnings perspective some big US retailers such as Walmart and Home Depot will post their earnings on the 13th whilst Tencent and Cisco will post theirs on the 14th.

Chart of the Week

Despite the strong sell off in equity markets over the last week the ‘bull-bear’ sentiment index, which is still above zero represents an overall positive outlook on US equity markets. However it has pulled back considerably in recent days.

At Unio Employee Benefits, we are happy to work with our clients to help provide solutions to help bridge these potential gaps for their scheme members. Contact your client manager directly or get in touch at enquiries@unio.ie