Market Summary Week Ending 21/05/2023

In the US, negotiations have continued between Republicans and Democrats to raise the debt ceiling limit, the cap on the total amount of money that the federal government is authorised to borrow via the US treasury to fulfil its financial obligations. Markets remain optimistic that a deal between the White House and Republican negotiators can be struck this week after the two sides held positive talks on Sunday afternoon.

As a result, in the US, all three major averages capped the week with gains. The S&P 500 rose 1.65%, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 3.04%. It was the best weekly performance since March for both indexes. The Dow Jones also added 0.38% across the trading week.

In the UK, markets followed suit with the US, through optimism that a deal can be struck for the US Debt Ceiling moving forward. Despite this optimism, the FTSE 100 ended the week down 0.20% impacted by losses in energy stocks, as oil prices fell on concerns about a global economic slowdown.

Looking forward to the week ahead, inflation data for April will be released in both the UK and US, with analysts’ expectations that UK CPI will have fallen sharply from last month’s figures of 10.1%. In the US, the Personal Consumption Expenditure Index figure will also be released, which is the Federal Reserve preferred inflation measure and will be a major consideration when interest rates are next discussed in June.

 

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.