Reports this morning showed that the latest UK headline inflation rate saw prices rising by 2.3% on year in April, in comparison to March’s 3.2% climb.

On Tuesday this week, data on the UK labour market indicated a potential slight tempering of the jobs market.

On Monday, while UK markets remained closed in observance of the Early May bank holiday, European and US markets operated as usual.

Following on from promising GDP growth in Q1 that exceeded forecasts, reports on Tuesday revealed that China’s manufacturing sector has expanded for the second month in a row

Markets rallied this week as a busy week of earnings reports got underway and investors look to a full week of key economic data.

It has been a choppy week for markets as investors have considered some pieces of key economic data and have kept an eye on tensions within the Middle East.

The consumer confidence index for Japan came in hot on Tuesday at highs not seen since May 2019.

Markets were jittery early in the day on Wednesday as investors awaited the fallout from one of Taiwan’s most significant earthquakes since 1999.

This week has seen a relatively calm demeanour following the recent flurry of central bank interest rate decisions.

This week is packed with central bank interest rate decisions, giving markets plenty to digest.