As expected, the UK economy is picking up after what proved to be the mildest recession on record. If you blinked, you almost missed it!
Yesterday the Governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey told the BBC that the economy had turned a corner but that it was not yet a strong recovery. An obvious statement but understandable bearing in mind that the UK economy has barely grown for two years.
The US markets have struggled over the last month. There were concerns that interest rates in the US may even move higher as the strength of their economy seemed to be confounding the Federal Reserve and economists alike. Weaker data over the last few days has given the markets some respite.
Emerging Asian markets are attracting more interest as are European markets. Asia especially, has struggled until the last few months, but two of our preferred funds within our concentrated Momentum portfolio have performed very strongly on the back of an improved outlook. Since the start of the year, the Baillie Gifford Pacific Fund has posted 14.27% and the more conservative Invesco Pacific Fund, 8.44% (net of fund fees, FE analytics).
Today’s agenda:
- The UK economic outlook is improving
- A similar story in Europe
- UK and European markets are flying
- Stellar returns for the Hang Seng
- Not all emerging markets are faring well
- A sigh of relief following weaker US economic data
- Summary
The UK economic outlook is improving
Good news this morning around the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) figures for the UK economy, with the Office for National Statistics announcing that the quarter-on-quarter growth figures were the highest rise since 2021. The growth was 0.6% for the first quarter of 2024, greater than was generally expected.
Continues…
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Please Note: This communication should not be read as giving specific advice regarding your personal circumstances. This would only be given following detailed assessment of your individual needs. The value of investments may fall as well as rise; you may get back less than invested. Past performance is not necessarily a guide to future returns.
