The French head to the polls on June 30 and July 7 to elect their members of Parliament. How does that work? There are 577 seats up for grabs, so a party needs 289 seats to have an outright majority to govern. Anything less, in general, would mean that several parties may try to work together to form a coalition. This has been the case since 2022, with a coalition supporting President Macron given that his party does not have an outright majority.

On June 30 and July 7, the French public will vote to elect their members of Parliament. There are 577 seats up for grabs, so a party needs 289 seats to have an outright majority to govern. Anything less, in general, would mean that parties may try to work together to form a coalition.

As key elections approach that could shape the policy landscape, Quintet highlights the dynamics that will drive the global economy and financial markets over the second half of 2024 and beyond

All eyes are on Europe this summer. It’s one of the most visited regions, time and again, by tourists from all around the globe. The European Football Championship also kicked off last week in Germany, the Summer Olympics in Paris starts next month and, for those more politically minded, we just had the European elections and there are key national elections in France and the UK on the horizon (and, Europe aside, the all-important US election in November).

As expected, the European Central Bank (ECB) lowered interest rates by 25 basis points last week. The main refinancing rate is now 4.25%, and the deposit rate is 3.75%. Even though the decision was expected, European equities fell slightly, government bond prices rose (yields fell), and the euro appreciated right after the announcement.

Looking at how a currency behaves could reveal what direction an economy is trending in. In other words, a currency that appreciates often reflects an economy that’s doing well, and vice versa.

Inflation in the Eurozone rose for the first time this year, adding to worries that the inflation-easing trend may have come to a halt therefore limiting the European Central Bank’s (ECB) ability to cut interest rates. We disagree: we think that inflation progress is just slowing.

There were contrasting trends in markets last week. On the one hand, Nvidia beating earnings expectations once again and raising guidance for the next quarter supported the AI rally and bolstered tech stock more broadly, with the Nasdaq closing 1.4% higher.

Quintet Private Bank, headquartered in Luxembourg and operating across Europe and the UK, today marked the 75th anniversary of its founding in the Grand Duchy.

Last week, stocks from the US to Europe and the UK closed again at all-time highs, and government bond prices rose as yields fell, after April inflation data in the US came in broadly as expected. Inflation fell slightly, which marked a welcome relief from the rising trend we’ve seen in the first three months of the year.

The advent of artificial intelligence (AI) in recent years, particularly with the introduction of groundbreaking platforms like ChatGPT, has catalyzed transformative shifts across various sectors, propelling stock markets to unprecedented heights this year.

Spring is finally here, and it looks like the weather is gradually improving. We got so used to the gloom of Mach and April that it’s perhaps natural to extrapolate the same conditions for May. But the sunshine came unexpectedly. Put differently, in investment jargon, relative to our downbeat expectations, we got a surprise to the upside.

The arrival of spring means one can spend extra time exercising outdoors (at least when the weather cooperates). While one doesn’t need to run a marathon to get back in shape, we think active portfolio management is more like a long jog than a short sprint – the key is keeping the right pace.

Given the recent upside surprises in inflation, the market was somewhat relieved that the US Federal Reserve (Fed) Chair Powell made clear that the central bank is not considering raising rates. Powell only confirmed what we, and many others, had suspected: interest rate cuts are not that imminent anymore.

Thursday’s US GDP growth print revealed more inflationary pressures in the first quarter than expected. As such, the market now only expects the US Federal Reserve (Fed) to cut interest rates once or twice, in September and/or December.

First thing first, when we talk about small-cap equities (or small caps), it’s important to understand what “cap” refers to. Cap is short for capitalisation, which in turn is short for market capitalisation.

In the latest tit-for-tat exchange, Israel struck Iran last Friday in response to Iran’s strike on Israel the previous week. It’s possible that Israel’s limited response could end the round of direct clashes between the two countries, at least for the time being, given that both countries have described their actions as a specific operation in response to the actions from the other (the very definition of tit-for-tat), rather than as an attempt to escalate more generally.

The first few months of 2024 have come as somewhat of a surprise to investors. For example, US growth has stayed resilient, continuing to defy the odds of recession, so markets have had to reevaluate their expectations for the year. And we are no different. Investing is about finding the right balance between having conviction in your long-term strategy and being conscious of the opportunities in the short term.

Quintet Private Bank, headquartered in Luxembourg and operating across Europe and the UK, announced today the launch of the first in a series of multi-manager UCITS funds designed with BlackRock, the leading global asset manager.

The release of the March US consumer inflation data, which was hotter than expected, lead markets to rethink when the US Federal Reserve (Fed) would start cutting rates. Markets now expect the Fed will cut rates later and only twice this year.