Economic Events to 30th June 2024
The expectation at the start of the year for wider markets was that both inflation and interest rates would fall due to weakening growth and consumer demand. So far, the reality of 2024 has been one of falling inflation but surprisingly resilient economies, meaning the expected interest rate cuts have not yet materialized. The first half of the year has been comparatively quiet economically, but very busy politically, and markets have broadly reacted well to this combination, with the S&P 500 up 16.26%, the FTSE 100 up 7.88% and the European Stoxx 600 up 6.51%. Once again, technology names led the S&P 500, with a small number of businesses driving the majority of growth (only 24% of stocks in the S&P 500 outperformed the index, making this the 3rd narrowest 6-month period in history since 1986).
See the full Bi-Annual Report below:
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