Flash boursier

The release of statistics in the US pointing to a slackening labour market and a slowdown in economic activity fuelled risk appetite last week. The prospect of some monetary easing by the ECB in June similarly added weight to the uptrend in European equity markets. In the UK, the Bank of England adopted a less hawkish stance even though it did still hold benchmark policy rates.

All this led to an easing in bond yields, with the US 10-year figure reverting to 4.50% while the German equivalent was steady at 2.50%.

In detail, the release of higher weekly initial jobless claims than expected – revealing some weakening in the labour market – hinted that the Fed might now have the leeway needed to cut rates in September.

Another sign pointing to a rate cut is that US consumer sentiment in May fell to its lowest level for six months, dropping to 67.4 in May, versus 77.2 in April, whereas analysts were forecasting a dip to 76.2. These numbers are a sign that consumers are worried about inflation, unemployment and interest rates. In Europe, the HCOB composite PMI, tracking overall business activity in the Eurozone, rose to 51.7 in April, up from 50.3 in March as private-sector growth accelerated to its fastest pace in nearly a year.

Growth in overall business activity was underpinned by a solid increase in the services sector. In contrast, manufacturing output slowed further.

Finally, seasonally adjusted deflated retail sales in the Eurozone rose by 0.8% in March compared with the previous month.

All in all, the S&P 500 ended the week up by 1.85%, Nasdaq by 1.14%, while the Stoxx Europe 600 surged ahead by 3.01%.

The US consumer price index for April is out this week. Investors will also be focusing on another address by Jerome Powell.

Tencent, Alibaba, JD.com, Home Depot, Walmart, Allianz, Siemens AG and Richemont will all be reporting and their results will be examined closely.