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Major stock indices posted a broad recovery during October despite the absence of particularly positive news from the Ukrainian war and inflation fronts. The European Central Bank raised rates by an additional 75 basis points to 2% in an attempt to contain inflation now above 10%, but this did not provoke negative reactions in the markets. This is because the move was widely expected and secondly, because President Christine Lagarde stated that the potential impact of a recession on inflation will be a key variable in upcoming decisions. The U.S. Central Bank's statements also remain tight-lipped by projecting further [...]

The financial and capital markets are not finding peace even for the month of September and recorded one of the worst months in recent history. The sharp rise in rates led to a valuation adjustment in almost all asset classes. As a result of the inflationary threat, major central banks around the world, after a long period of negative rates and quantitative easing, have starded and continue to apply restrictive monetary policies to counter this phenomenon. The FED raised its benchmark rate to 3.25%, with a latest increase of 0.75% at its last meeting in September, declaring that it [...]

The summer session turned out to be extremely volatile with a two-sided trend. On the one hand, in July we saw a strong turnaround from the bad performance in June, with the financial markets showing a strong recovery. From the beginning of July until mid-August the main stock markets put up gains averaging more than 10% including a +18% of Nasdaq. Since mid-August, investors have had to face the harsh reality, and as a result stock markets have dropped nearly half of their gains. Investors are, once again, shaken by the fear of significant new restrictive measures by the [...]

The concerns which weighed on markets during the first half of the year were clearly evident in June. The attempt to stabilize market trends seen in May was not followed up and was accompanied by a new bearish phase that led U.S. indexes to hit new lows. On the European front, losses of around 10% were recorded, but they still remain above the lows recorded in March. This correction is mainly attributable to the tighter monetary policies put in place by the major Central Banks to combat the continuing rise in inflation. The slow return to normalcy after the re-emergence [...]

Still an inevitably complex month for the financial markets with inflation and all its causes (pandemic, war, sanctions, rising commodity costs, etc...) being the main issue. The remedy put in place by the major Central Banks, raising interest rates and tapering, is having negative effects as it is troublesome for consumers and businesses and therefore potentially demaging to economic growth dynamics. The sharp rise in inflation has led the major Central Banks to implement tighter monetary policies. The U.S. Central Bank (FED) raised interest rates by half a percentage point to a range of 0.75% and 1%. This is the [...]

At the end of the month, financial markets were heavily impacted by the outbreak of war in Ukraine. While January was negative due to tighter monetary policies, February was impacted by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and all indices closed negatively. The financial markets, frightened by this event, began to deal with the sanctions imposed on the invader. Rising commodity prices and new supply bottlenecks are a serious threat to global economic recovery, all at a time when Covid 19 was coming out of two years. The Fear of global escalation, the threat of nuclear war, and media coverage facilitated [...]