Market Summary Week Ending 09/10/2022

US markets continued to be tumultuous over the course of this week. Standard and Poor’s 500 (S&P 500) rose 5.6%, its best two-day move since 2020 and the third-best start to an October since 1930. However, the release of the US employment report on Friday showing an overall decrease in unemployment rates, sparked further fears of a greater interest rate rise at the Federal Reserve’s next meeting. As a result, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 630.15 points, or 2.1%, to $29,296.79 and the S&P 500 lost 2.8% to $3,639.66, with these losses offsetting some of the gains in what started out as a big comeback week for US Equities.

In the UK, the volatility of the last fortnight has been replaced with fresh optimism over the central bank’s policy moving forward. In a sign that events remain in flux however, the Chancellor confirmed that the government would not bring forward its medium-term fiscal plan, which is scheduled for release on 23 November. This sparked a slight resurgence in the FTSE 100 Index, adding 1.41% overall across the trading week

Other major European markets also rallied slightly over the course of the week, with France’s CAC 40 Index putting on 1.82% and Germany’s DAX Index also adding 1.31%.

The rally in sterling also continued this week, after Monday’s strong trading session, to close out at roughly £1: $1.12 US Dollar on Friday.