The market’s eyes were fixed on the US non-farm payrolls report last week, which provided an important snapshot of the US labour market ahead of the Fed’s September policy meeting.

NVIDIA’s sales soared 56% for the quarter, reaching an impressive $46.74 billion. Despite this strong performance, the stock dipped on Thursday as investors weighed the latest earnings report.

Global equities shrugged off US recession fears last week as significant gains were made across the developed markets.

February, the shortest month of the year, felt extended due to the market volatility seen, writes Richard Temperley.

From Trump tariffs to concerns around the technology sector with the emergence of Chinese AI company DeepSeek, investors searched for safety in government bonds and commodities, writes Richard Temperley.

In October, global markets displayed a mix of resilience and caution, marked by significant volatility due to fluctuating economic indicators, writes Richard Temperley.

The Zurich Investment Outlook is produced twice yearly by the team at Zurich Investments, based in Dublin, Ireland. This publication provides an in-depth insight into our current thinking and positioning, and expands on the reasons behind our economic views to our clients and customers.

As we enter 2025, we look to maintain perspective and to balance the risks across respective asset classes.

As we enter 2024, we have a broadly balanced asset allocation stance, namely a neutral weighting in equities and a much-increased weighting in bonds. This follows a steady reduction in equity exposure throughout the last quarter of 2023.