Our CIO, John Mullane, shares the latest Market News and Views and gives insights for the week ahead.

The Week That Was

It was a solid week for equity markets, which were buoyed by a combination of solid corporate earnings and supportive economic data. The S&P 500 (+1.9%) pushed to a fresh all-time high as softer inflation data increased the prospects of the Fed pursuing a series of rate cuts in the months ahead. Tech was the standout from a sector perspective (+2.8%) with Apple climbing to a fresh all-time high on strong early sales of the iPhone 17. European markets ended the week +1.7% higher with the Energy sector (+4.5%) strong, buoyed by a rebound in oil following recent sustained weakness. In commodities, gold fell -3.3% as investors took profits post a nine-week winning streak.

The Week Ahead

Asian markets moved lower this morning despite a strong close in the US (+1.2%) overnight, tied to optimism on a US-China trade truce being concluded when President Trump and Xi meet this Thursday. The framework agreement will likely see the US pause steeper tariffs, whilst in turn China would delay its latest proposed rare earth restrictions. Ahead of his meeting with Xi, President Trump signed a framework agreement with Japan on rare earths as it continues to diversify away from China.

Third-quarter earnings season enters one of its most pivotal weeks with five of the Magnificent Seven due to report. Investors will look to upcoming results from Microsoft, Meta, Google and Amazon for reassurance that the pace of capital investment in AI is being maintained or increased and that there are signs of progress on monetisation of past investments. Beyond tech, Mastercard and Visa are both expected to post solid earnings driven by healthy payment volumes and resilient consumer spending across discretionary and non-discretionary categories. Overall, 30% of S&P 500 companies have reported thus far, with close to 90% having beaten earnings expectations. Closer to home, focus will centre on trends in net interest income, loan growth and deposit betas when Bank of Ireland and PTSB release numbers.

On the macro front, data today is expected to confirm that confidence levels among US consumers held broadly steady in October. It is all but certain that the US Fed will cut rates by 25bps when they meet tomorrow, given recent labour market weakness. Chair Powell could use this meeting as an opportune time to end Quantitative Tightening, given recent issues in credit markets. Whilst GDP data is likely to indicate economic growth in the Eurozone decelerated to 1.2% YoY in Q3, the ECB is likely to indicate on Thursday that no change to its policy rate is required. This partly reflects the fact that core CPI for the currency bloc, which is to be released on Friday remained above target this month (2.4% YoY). From a political perspective, Chinese trade talks with both the US and Europe will garner attention along with ongoing negotiations to end the second longest running Government Shutdown in US history.

Key Market-Moving Events This Week

Macro: Fed, ECB, and BOJ deliver rate decisions
Earnings: Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, Alphabet, Bank of Ireland, and PTSB report results
Politics: Trump–Xi meeting aims to conclude trade truce; negotiations continue to avert the second-longest US government shutdown in history

Further Reading

This is an extract from the Weekly Markets Report by Cantor Fitzgerald Ireland. For more details on individual securities or to discuss how we can support your investment needs, please get in touch.

Written by John Mullane, CIO, Cantor Fitzgerald Ireland