June market update – a challenging first half of the year

Chief Investment Officer Chris Godding and Senior Research Analyst Louie French give their commentary on what happened in the markets and global economies over the month of June 2018.

June brought to an end what was a challenging first half of 2018, as global investors digested constantly evolving geopolitical headlines, diverging Central bank rhetoric and solid earnings growth data.

What happened in the markets?

• Ongoing trade tensions created large headwinds for markets in June, particularly in export-focused markets such as the German DAX and the emerging markets (equities and bonds)
• A stronger US dollar, linked to a more hawkish US Federal Reserve (Fed), also added to emerging market woes in the month and was a headwind for a number of commodity markets. The exception was the energy sector, with oil prices rising over the month linked to ongoing supply concerns and OPEC’s decision to only modestly increase its supply into the market
• Developed equity market returns were largely flat over the month, but there was a clear divergence in sector returns linked to the ongoing trade headlines

Read our market commentary

We hope you have found this update helpful. Please do get in touch on 020 7189 2400or email contact@tilney.co.uk if you have any queries or would like more information.