Global equity markets continued their advance throughout August, as the S&P 500, the Euro STOXX 50 and the FTSE 100 were up 3.0%, 2.6% and 2.1% respectively, despite a surge in Covid Delta variant cases. There was also increasing evidence that immunity wanes over time, resulting in several countries announcing booster vaccine programmes. Federal Reserve Chairman, Jerome Powell, re-iterated the Fed's dovish stance and view that the current increasing inflation is transitory. Despite the dovish tone from the Fed, the yield on US, UK and German 10-year bonds all increased by 9, 15 and 8 basis points respectively over the month. August was also a landmark month with regards to geo-politics, as it saw the formal removal of foreign troops from Afghanistan after two decades of conflict. The pound was down 0.6% against the euro and down 1.1% against the US dollar.
Click below for the latest factsheets.