The Week That Was

Global equities advanced modestly last week, as resilient corporate earnings, signs of progress in the Middle East and the absence of an overtly hawkish tilt from global central banks served to underpin risk appetite. The S&P 500 posted its fifth consecutive week of gains, closing 1% higher in local currency terms, buoyed by strong tech earnings, with Alphabet and Apple the standouts. European equities ended the week broadly flat, with Telecoms and Banks performing best in what was a mixed week for corporate earnings in the currency bloc.

Global bonds were also largely unchanged on the week in euro terms. However, US yields backed up slightly as the FOMC’s rate decision represented the highest level of dissent since 1992. It was also a volatile week for oil, with Brent ending 3.8% higher and pushing global commodities up 2.9% in euro terms.

Summary Economic Releases 

The Week Ahead

Most Asian markets were closed this morning for a public holiday. However, equities in Hong Kong traded modestly lower on reports that the US and Iran traded fire overnight. The incident occurred as the US sought to escort some stranded vessels through the Strait of Hormuz. As the exchange was limited, Brent crude has eased back this morning, albeit it has held most of yesterday’s gains. Overall, whilst equity markets have largely looked through the conflict in recent weeks, an extended blockade of the Strait could see earnings expectations catch down to the macro realities, warranting increasingly cautious positioning by investors.

Corporate earnings season will remain the main focus in what is a holiday-shortened week for markets. In the US, results from McDonald’s, Uber, Pfizer and, in particular, Flutter will be in focus. Investors will be seeking an update on promotional and Predicts spending and handle rebuild from the world’s largest gaming company. Overall, US earnings are currently tracking at over 17% for Q1 2026, with an 83% beat rate. In contrast, European earnings are growing at 5.5%, with a beat rate of just 50%, with significant dispersion in returns evident. The key names in focus from a European standpoint this week are Shell, Infineon and Novo Nordisk, where investors will be looking for an update on pricing pressure in GLP-1s, sales trends for the Wegovy pill, oral obesity treatments and the broader pipeline.

From an economic perspective, today’s ISM data should indicate industrial activity in the US services sector continued to expand in April. However, new orders and prices paid will be watched closely given the US-Iran conflict. Data from Germany on Thursday should indicate that factory orders climbed to their highest level since 2025 in March, whilst on Friday industrial production data is expected to turn positive for the first time in four months. The main market-moving economic data point will be US jobs data, which is expected to come in at 60,000 for April. This rate of jobs growth should be sufficient to maintain unemployment close to historic lows at 4.3% and confirm the persistence of no-hire, no-fire labour market dynamics.

Opportunities this week:

• Flutter Entertainment (Overweight, PT $199, 90% upside) – Look ahead to Q1 results
• Diageo (Overweight, £21.90, 47% upside) – Update ahead of Q3 2026 results
• Uniphar (Overweight, PT €5.10, 24% upside) – Update post-IR meeting last week, ahead of the Group AGM on Thursday

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