Market Summary Week Ending 12/11/2023

Equities rallied on Friday following a tumultuous week of further uncertainty of the direction of central banks, as well as how greatly the impact of longer, heightened rates will have on GDP and growth within all of the major economies.

In the UK, gross domestic product (GDP) in the third quarter matched the Bank of England’s forecast for zero growth, after increasing by 0.2% in the prior three months. Monthly GDP was better than expected, with the economy expanding 0.2% in September.

Across the trading week, it was mixed fortunes for the major indices, with the FTSE 100 reporting a small loss of 0.63%. The FTSE 250, on the other hand, made a small gain of 0.65%.

In the US, equities rallied on Friday as long-term treasury yields began to stabilise following a volatile week. Further comments made by Federal Reserve Chair, Jerome Powell, suggested that further intervention may be required to quell inflation down to its longer term target of 2%.

Overall, Friday’s surge was enough to lift the three major averages for a second consecutive week of gains. The S&P 500 advanced 1.3%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added a further 0.7%. The Nasdaq was the week’s outperformer, rising roughly 2.4% over the trading week.

Please note for this weekly summary, we focus on the major indices within the financial markets such as the FTSE 100 (UK) and the Dow Jones and NASDAQ (US) to provide a factual account of what has happened within a certain index. Performance figures quoted are factual from the previous week’s trading and this summary is for commentary purposes only.

The performance of these indices is not a representation of an individual fund or portfolio. Past performance is no guarantee of future returns. The value of your investment can go down as well as up. You could get back less than you originally invested.