Please see below weekly news update received from Blackfinch this morning, which provides a summary of global events from their multi-asset portfolio managers.
UK COMMENTARY
- Reuters reported that the UK government had sanctioned 14 more Russian entities and individuals, including the state media organisations behind Rossiya Television and Sputnik, and some of their senior figures, for pushing out “Putin’s fake news and narratives”
- According to Nationwide, UK house prices rose 14.3% in the year to March. This was the strongest increase since November 2004, when the UK experienced a housing boom that preceded the financial crisis.
- The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported that UK gross domestic product (GDP) rose by 1.3% in the fourth quarter of 2021, stronger than a preliminary quarterly growth estimate of 1.0%.
- According to an extensive ONS survey of more than 13,000 UK, 83% saw an increase in their cost of living in March, up from 62% in November.
NORTH AMERICA COMMENTARY
- The US unemployment rate fell from 3.8% to 3.6%. The largest job gains were in leisure and hospitality, which added 112,000 new jobs in March. This was the 11th consecutive month of job gains of more than 400,000, the longest stretch of jobs growth on record.
- Over the past 12 months, average US hourly earnings have increased by 5.6%.
- US GDP growth in the fourth quarter was reported as lower than forecast. The annualised growth rate was revised slightly from 7.0% to 6.9%.
EUROPE COMMENTARY
- Soaring energy prices pushed inflation in the Eurozone to 7.5% in March, according to the preliminary estimate from the European Union’s statistical office Eurostat. This was the highest inflation rate since the single currency was created.
- In Italy, inflation rose to an annual rate of 6.7% in March, according to a preliminary estimate from Istat, Italy’s statistics office.
- Eurostat reported that the unemployment rate in the Eurozone fell to a record low of 6.8% in February, from 6.9% in January.
- In Germany, the number of unemployed in February fell by 20,400 from January to 1.34 million, according to official figures. The unemployment rate stayed at 3.1%.
- In Spain, rocketing energy prices meant inflation reached 9.8% in March, the highest annual rate since 1985.
ASIA COMMENTARY
- China’s National Bureau of Statistics reported that the official Chinese Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell to 49.5 in March from 50.2 in February, , while the non-manufacturing PMI dropped from 51.6 in February to 48.4 in March, its lowest level since August 2021.
Please check in again with us shortly for further relevant content and news.
Chloe
04/04/2022