On this week’s AHR Market review.
Stock markets suffered their third straight week of losses amid concerns about Middle East tensions and the likelihood of U.S. interest rates staying higher for longer.
In economic news, robust figures from the U.S. Commerce Department indicated that retail sales in March surged by 0.7%, significantly exceeding the expected 0.3%, and up from a revised 0.9% increase in February.
In the UK, consumer price inflation dropped to 3.2% in March, the lowest in two and a half years but slightly less than analysts had anticipated.
China reported a better-than-expected 5.3% economic growth for the first quarter of 2024, bolstered by a 6.1% increase in industrial output.
U.S. stock indices fell by 3% over the week, with technology stocks particularly affected, dropping by 5.5% as investors re-adjusted their rate expectations.
Yields of U.S. government bonds rose for the third week in a row as investors continued to rein in their expectations for near-term interest-rate cuts.
Oil prices experienced volatility, with U.S. crude briefly topping $85 per barrel due to the tensions between Israel and Iran.
That’s all for this week’s AHR Weekly Podcast. Thank you for listening and for further investment insights head over to ahrprivatewealth.com.