Weekly Market Update - 27th March

Following, global equity market falls in February and the first half of March, the last week has been a roller-coaster ride with large falls and gains being a regular daily occurrence. In fact, it was reported on Thursday that the US equity market had entered a bull period (this happens when there has been a 20% rally from a previous low) marking the end of the shortest bear market ever. In addition, European equity markets were reported as having the biggest three-day surge ever.

These gains trimmed back slightly on Friday as most global equity markets fell back; the FTSE 100 not helped by the Prime Minister, Health Minister and Chief Medical Officer reporting that they had mild symptoms of coronavirus and were self-isolating.

Weekly performance up March performance to date

to 27 March 2020 up to 27 March 2020

FTSE 100 (UK) +6.2% -16.3%

Dow 30 (US) +12.8% -14.8%

Euro Stoxx 50 (Europe) +7.1% -18.0%

Nikkei 225 (Japan) +17.1% -8.3%

Like the global stock markets, £ Sterling recovered some lost ground last week as well closing 27 March at 1.25 US Dollars. This was 7.0% higher than the figure at the end of the previous week (20 March) and is now only 2.8% lower than the figure at the end of February.

Against the Euro, £ Sterling closed on 27 March at 1.12 Euros, which was 2.7% higher than the closing figure on 20 March and 3.8% lower than the February close.

During the week, updated inflation figures, as measured by the Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers’ housing costs (CPIH), were reported. It was 1.7% in February 2020 (this is February’s data which is reported in March). This was 0.1% lower than the previous month. The 12-month rate for the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rate which excludes owner occupied housing costs and council tax was also 1.7% in February, also down from 1.8% in January.

There were no further changes to the Bank of England base rate last week following the two previous cuts in March. The current rate remains at 0.1%.

The Omnis Managed funds, Openwork Graphene Model Portfolios and Omnis Managed Portfolio Service provide you with a diversified asset allocation in line with your Attitude to Risk, investing in Developed Market Equities, such as UK, US, Europe and Asia Pacific as well as Emerging Market equities. Cautious and Balanced investors will also have significant holdings in UK and Global Bonds, as well as Alternative Strategies.

We believe this multi-asset approach aims to minimise global equity market falls in volatile periods.