Courtiers Wealth Management
Courtiers Wealth Management

News & Insights

June 2023 – Market Update

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Fears that the US may be about to default on its debt were alleviated this week as the House of Representatives passed a bill to suspend the debt ceiling – which currently sits at $31.4 trillion – to January 2025, thus avoiding any immediate danger of the US government not being able to repay its loans and the economy contracting as a result.

US stocks outperformed European and UK stocks during the month, aided by the US market’s concentration in tech stocks benefitting from the AI boom, with chipmaker Nvidia briefly becoming the ninth company in history to be valued at over $1 trillion.

In the UK, the Bank of England increased the base interest rate a further 0.25% to 4.5%. It also upgraded its forecast for the UK economy to grow by 0.2% in the first half of the year, compared to negative forecasts three months ago. Meanwhile, inflation declined from 10.1% at the end of March to 8.7% at the end of April. This is the biggest monthly fall in the Consumer Prices Index since April 1992, however the extent of the decline was still below expectations, which sent equity markets down and bond yields up. The FTSE 100 index lost 1.75% on the day while the UK 10 year gilt yield peaked at nearly 4.4% during the week.

Full round-up of May market performance

In the UK, the FTSE 100 index declined 4.93% while medium and smaller companies, measured by the FTSE 250 ex IT index and the FTSE Small Cap ex IT index respectively, lost 4.11% and 1.71% respectively. In the US, the S&P 500 USD index rose 0.43% while in Europe the Eurostoxx 50 EUR index slipped 1.86%. Japanese stocks measured by the Topix JPY index were up 3.62%.

Emerging markets returns were mostly negative, with the MSCI Emerging Markets index dropping 0.96% in local currency terms. Chinese stocks were among the biggest fallers, with the MSCI China CNY index declining 8.19%. Meanwhile Indian stocks measured by the Nifty 50 INR index rose 2.60% and Latin American equities, measured by the MSCI Latin America local currency index, crept up 0.20%.

In the fixed income market, UK government bonds, measured by the FTSE Gilts All Stocks index, fell 3.43%, with long dated (over 15 years to maturity) gilts sliding 6.56%. Sterling denominated corporate bonds, measured by the Markit iBoxx Sterling Corporates index, decreased 2.40%. In the high yield market, the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Sterling High Yield index returned 0.35%.

There were negative returns in the commodities market. The S&P GSCI USD index, which consists of a basket of commodities including oil, metals and agricultural items, slumped 6.11%. Crude oil futures tumbled 11.32% during the month. In the agricultural markets, corn and wheat futures conceded 6.60% and 4.11% in USD respectively. In the precious metals markets, the S&P GSCI Gold and Silver indices spurned 1.32% and 6.05% in USD respectively.

In the currency markets, it was a mixed month for the pound as it depreciated 1.00% versus the US dollar but gained 2.06% against the euro and 1.32% versus the yen.

Important information

Issued by Courtiers Asset Management Limited, CAM0423771. Courtiers Asset Management Limited is Authorised and Regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority – Register No: 616322. Address: 18 Hart Street, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire RG9 2AU. Tel: 01491 578368.

Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future returns. The value of investments, and the income from them, can go down as well as up and is not guaranteed and you may not get back the amount originally invested. Any forecast, projection or target where provided is indicate only and is not guaranteed in any way. Certain types of funds might carry a greater investment risk than other investment funds. Further details of the risks are associated with investing in Courtiers funds can be found in the Key Investor Information Document or Prospectus, copies of which are available on request or at www.courtiers.co.uk.

Disclaimer

This communication is for information purposes only and should not be relied upon in making an investment decision. The views expressed by individuals and the business are based on market conditions at the date of issue and are subject to change without notice. The mention of any stocks or shares should not be taken as recommendation to deal and does not take into account the individual investor’s investment objective or risk profile. Where an investment or security is denominated in a different currency to the investor’s currency of reference, changes in rates of exchange may have an adverse effect on the value, price or income of or from that investment to the investor. Any third-party sites, or pages which are linked to the document, have not been reviewed by us and therefore we accept no responsibility for the authors or content of external link or pages. If you are interested in any of Courtiers Asset Management Limited’s range of funds, or require any financial advice, please speak to a financial adviser.

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