Weekly Market Summary.

If it was worth us stressing once, it is worth us repeating and repeating it ad nauseum: an increase interest rates is many years away.

It has been an interesting week: recent robust economic data allowed Jay Powell, the Fed Chair (the US central bank), to talk optimistically about the economic outlook, while at the same time effectively reminding the market of the famous mantra ‘don’t fight the Fed’, as he repeated it was far too early to consider tighter monetary policy.

Better-than-expected economic data failed to push equity markets higher this week thanks to a resurgence in coronavirus cases (mainly due to India) coupled with reports that Joe Biden is considering plans to almost double the capital gains tax rate to 39.6%.

The FTSE-100 ended the week above the 7,000 level – a level not seen since 26 February 2020 and a far cry from the sub-5,000 level it fell to in those dark and uncertain times last March.

The markets’ obsession with inflationary pressures continued this week after US PPI data climbed 1% in March, taking its annual advance to 4.2%.

Global equity markets brushed aside Europe’s new lockdown restrictions and instead focused of the faster vaccine rollout in the US and the subsequent economic reopening, which bodes well for global economic growth and global equity markets.

After a challenging start to the week, global equity markets recovered strongly today (Friday 26 March 2021), and as a result ended the week marginally higher – and the reasons show how fickle equity markets can be in the short-term and why it was important to resist the urge for any knee-jerk reactions and maintain a long-term perspective.

We were already on tenterhooks ahead of policy meetings at the major central banks, but heightened geopolitical tensions; new coronavirus lockdowns in Europe; and a weaker oil price, all made for an exhausting end to the week.

Given the US President, Joe Biden, yesterday (Thursday 11 March 2021) signed his $1.9tr fiscal stimulus bill into law, meaning that qualifying Americans (those earning less than $75,000 individually or married couples earning less than $150,000) will each start to receive their $1,400 cash payment in the coming days, coupled with this pledge to have all Americans vaccinated by May, inflation and interest rates were again the hot topic of the week.

It has been a rollercoaster week for equity markets.