The saying “sell in May and walk away” has not played out so far this year. US stock markets enjoyed historic gains last month, with all three major indices undergoing strong rallies following the short-lived downturn the month prior. The Dow closed the month 4% higher, while the S&P 500 experienced its best May since 1990 with a 6.1% gain. The Nasdaq Composite meanwhile added the better part of 10% to its tally. In Europe, the German DAX pushed to new record highs, gaining 6.7% over the course of the month. The FTSE 100 climbed 3.3% over the same time frame. In Asia, the Nikkei 225 and Hang Seng Index matched each other with a 5.3% rise. With all that said, summer is just around the corner and historically the warmer months have not been kind to stocks.
For all the volatility in metals, gold closed the month completely flat at $3,289 an ounce. A similar story for the Dollar, which lost a measly 0.2% against the usual basket of currencies. On the other hand, cryptocurrencies had a stellar month, with Bitcoin gaining 11%, reclaiming six figures and establishing a new record high of $112k. A number of market participants are coming round to the idea that aggressive tariffs are being used as a negotiation tool rather than anything more sinister. Early reactions certainly erred on the side of drama but by and large markets are beginning to wise up.
In the US, more good news emerged on the inflation front last Friday with the release of the most recent PCE price index. The year-over-year figure fell to 2.1% in April while prices excluding food and energy rose by 2.5% – the lowest increase in four years. The economic data will continue to pour in over the next week, starting with manufacturing PMI numbers from across the world later today, followed by services PMIs later in the week. Tuesday offers the first glimpse into the US labour market with the latest JOLT survey, swiftly followed by the ADP employment change on Wednesday. Later on the same day, the Bank of Canada is expected to hold rates steady on the Canadian Dollar at 2.75%, while on Thursday the European Central Bank is looking to lower rates on the Euro by another 25-bps to 2.15%. Capping off the week, non-farm payrolls will hit the newswires on Friday. Current predictions are looking at 130k new jobs and unemployment remaining stable at 4.2%.
Advertencia de riesgos : Productos derivados del trading y productos potenciados poseen un nivel más alto de riesgo.
ABRIR CUENTA
