Gerald Fitzgerald’s Market Review May 20th
20 May 2019
LAST WEEK IN 30 SECONDS...
It was a mixed bag of performance last week for equities. European stocks were buoyant initially as positive rhetoric from Donal Trump appeared to suggest a trade deal with China could be achieved despite the Chinese retaliatory tactics. However, it was a second week of sell-offs for US equities as the tensions continued throughout the week.
Bond yields moved lower over the week as the trade talks stalled. The Chinese media got involved in the ongoing dispute, calling for a “people’s war” against the US.
In a final attempt to get the upper hand, Trump added Huawei to the “Entity List” from Friday making it difficult for the Chinese telecommunication company to do business with US suppliers without government approval.
THIS WEEK IN 30 SECONDS...
The key event in Europe this week will be the European elections as over 400 million voters take to the polls from Thursday to Sunday to elect a new European parliament. As the UK remains a member state they will be able to return 73 MEPs to Brussels and Strasbourg but their term in office is uncertain.
From the US, the Federal Reserve minutes are due for release on Wednesday. Market participants will be paying close attention to the discussions on inflation and interest rates from the recent May meeting.
YOU HAVE 1 NEW MISSED CALL
The world’s most popular messenger app, WhatsApp, which promises secure messaging came under scrutiny last week as it’s users were left vulnerable to spyware being placed on their mobile devices. The security hole allowed hackers to infiltrate users’ contact details, messages, locations, cameras and microphones and translate the seemingly private content to a computer elsewhere without the user even answering the malicious call. WhatsApp have encouraged users to upgrade to the latest version of the app to protect against potential exploits. Individuals conscious that they want to converse without the details being shared may just have to revert to the dumbphone of yesteryear or an old-fashioned park meetup without their devices.
By Gerald Fitzgerald, Investment Consultant
Gerald Fitzgerald joined Invesco’s Investment Consulting team in 2015 and has 10 years industry experience assisting clients with their investment & actuarial requirements. Gerald is a Qualified Financial Adviser (QFA) and a graduate of both University College Cork and University College Dublin.