Market Summary Week Ending 15/10/2023

Global markets have been reacting to what has been a tumultuous week. Conflict continues in the middle east between Israel and Hamas, following the attacks by Hamas fighters on Israel last weekend (7th/8th).

In the UK across the trading week there were mixed fortunes for the larger indices, with the FTSE 100 managing a small gain of 1.47% over the week, whilst the larger FTSE 250 suffered a small loss of 0.63%.

This gain for the FTSE 100 was powered by the large cap energy stocks. It ended the week 6.3% higher, driven by the potential for disruptions to Middle Eastern exports given the current conflict between Israel and Hamas.

Over in the United States, the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average notched weekly gains of 0.79% and 0.18% to curb recent downturns. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 climbed 0.45% to mark its second positive week.

This weekly gain was made despite a rocky trading session seen on Friday following consumer sentiment data. Closely monitored by the Federal Reserve, the data showed that confidence within the economy had slumped, whilst inflation expectations remained high, despite the recent drops seen in CPI in the US.

Looking forward to the week ahead, earning season in the US is due to begin detailing results from Quarter 3, with larger firms such as Netflix, Tesla and Bank of America all due to announce earnings this 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.