News

The rally in big technology names has been huge, with the Nasdaq 100 index (100 biggest technology stocks in the US) now flat for the year. In contrast the Russell 2000 index (the next 2000 companies on Wall Street after the 500 largest) is still down -30

Markets around the world have rebounded strongly and quickly since the March slump, the US market S&P 500 index is up +27% from its trough and now down “only” -16% from February’s all time high.

Global markets were down overnight with the US market (S&P 500 -2.2%) falling after the release of weak retail, manufacturing and homebuilding data, which added to concerns over a global recession.

Corporate America launches into what is expected to be a painful quarterly earnings season this week due to the coronavirus pandemic.

We expect markets to remain volatile. A rebound in oil prices recently had helped, however oil slumped in late trade as short term demand is still questioned despite the possibility of Saudis and Russian cutting production.

Global markets were mixed overnight with the US market (S&P 500 +3.4%) adding to its rally as Bernie Sanders dropped out from the Presidential race -the market saw political and economic concerns from his far left policies.

While a welcome rally, we are still not out of the volatility yet and investors should stage into the market with caution.

We think it is time to start “averaging into” stocks, as it appears the market is starting to now differentiate between the stocks and sectors which will face major problems for an extended period and those which are relatively immune.

It does appear the market is starting to now differentiate between the stocks and sectors which will face major problems for an extended period (e.g. retail/ tourism / airlines / property trusts), and those which are relatively immune and / or benefit e.g