International support

Looking back at events and financial markets during the week of 12 April, we review the publication of positive economic data and developed equity market outperformance (with the exception of Japan) in the past 30 days.

March, as with the quarter as a whole, posted strong returns for riskier assets. Equity markets continued their rise, albeit with some notable sector rotation along the way, which Tom Caddick’s update explains.

With the International Monetary Fund stating that most advanced economies will emerge from the pandemic with little lasting damage, as they have proved more resilient than many expected, we look back ad events and financial markets during the week of 5 April.

With scientific research making headlines, Rebecca Cretney and Simon Prescott explore how scientists’ approach to patient care could be applied to the approach investors take to select portfolios.

While attention focused on the ship blocking the Suez Canal, holding up around US$10 billion in trade a day, markets remained broadly positive, with the MSCI All Country World Index returning +0.96% in Sterling terms and +0.32% in US Dollar terms.

Markets remained fixated on government yields as the week of 15 March saw the seventh consecutive weekly rise in US Treasury yields, its longest climb since February 2018.

On International Women's Day, Karen Bennett speaks to women across Nedbank Private Wealth to hear their thoughts on how women could choose to challenge their approach to their finances and investments.

The main story for markets in February was the extraordinary sell off in sovereign bonds. This move was primarily as a result of two main factors, which Andrew Yeadon’s update explains.

Criminals have been quick to exploit the current pandemic and economic situation with ever more sophisticated scams. These include a significant number of frauds targeting investment clients.

The MSCI AC World was down -2.8% in Sterling terms and -3.3% in US Dollar terms, as emerging markets led the declines, while developed markets held up slightly better. But all eyes were really on the bond market as we detail here.