European equities have advanced since the start of March as the ECB released further details of its asset purchasing programme covering both government and corporate bonds. The new programme raised the monthly purchase value from €60bn to €80bn and will…
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The returns on UK government bonds has fallen to a record low as investors move to safer assets over concerns about the global economy and the impact of the UK leaving the EU. The yields on UK 10 year gilts…
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The UK commercial property market has delivered excellent returns over the past few years through record level of investment particularly in London office space. However there are signs that the market has peaked. The IPS Capital All Property Index shows…
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In 2015, China exported over 100 million metric tonnes (MMT) of steel into world markets. This is greater than the annual domestic usage of steel in the US. On the back of this steel prices were driven to a very…
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Gold and gold equity prices have rallied sharply this year spurred on by safe haven buying as doubts over global growth surfaced in January and June. Gold has been one of the top performing commodities this year rising from US$1065…
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This year oil has acted as a real time indicator of investment sentiment. The perception is that oil reflects global growth conditions. January’s oil price collapse was a supply rather than demand induced issue and since then the correlation between…
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The Japanese economy grew faster than expected in Q1 hitting an annualised growth of 1.7%. This growth was a result of higher government spending. This turnaround from Q4 2015 was important to Japan as each of the past four quarters…
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The FTSE 100 index like many other developed stock markets has had a turbulent ride this year. It started January at 6100 and fell to 5536 by mid-February after the fall in oil price and the devaluation of the renminbi…
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After a nasty slide in US stock values in January, US markets have bounced back sharply erasing their losses and regaining record levels. For example, the S&P 500 index fell to 1829 in January to recover to 2098 by early…
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