Weekly Market Summary.

Global equities rose this week on the prospect of looser monetary policy and the hope that US/China trade talks will soon resume.

Global equity markets faced crosscurrents this week, as positive US-Mexico trade developments were overshadowed by uncertainty over US-China trade.

The last two weeks’ equity market moves show perfectly that markets rarely move in a straight line and it is best not to make knee-jerk decisions.

It was an ugly week for global equities as intensifying trade concerns soured sentiment for risk assets.

While US/China trade tensions dominated market sentiment this week after the US said it was considering blacklisting up to five Chinese surveillance firms, there were a couple of positive (albeit) minor developments: the US temporarily eased some of the planned Huawei trade curbs; and China’s ambassador to the US, Cui Tiankai, said that China is ready to continue talks and is committed to forging a new trade deal.

Following a relatively subdued period, global trade was firmly top of the agenda again this week and despite the US and China’s tit-for-tat exchanges, most other equity markets posted positive returns.

The positivity over last Friday’s (3 May 2019) excellent US payrolls report, which showed robust job creation growth with no indication of wage pressure, proved short-lived!

It has been a busy week full of crucial data and economic events despite the fact a number of markets have been closed (Japanese markets were closed all week; Chinese markets were closed for three days and most European markets were closed on Wednesday 1 May 2019).

It has been an interesting week for global markets with pockets of news sprouting up everywhere!

Following last week’s agreement to delay the UK’s withdrawal from the EU until the end of October, UK politicians took some time off for Easter this week.