Events that moved the market Q2 2024

The Bank of England (BoE) has indicated a potential interest rate cut in August, marking the first decrease in borrowing costs in more than four years. It voted to keep rates at 5.25% in a close-run decision.

The European Central Bank (ECB) confirmed a widely anticipated reduction in interest rates to 3.75%, despite lingering inflation pressures.

The ANC received only 40.18% of the votes in the national election. The once-dominant party negotiated with other parties to form a coalition government.

South Africans voted in the most pivotal election since the first democratic election in 1994, which saw the ANC lose its majority for the first time.

Inflation in South Africa eased in April, with the consumer price index recording an annual increase of 5.2%, down from 5.3% in March and 5.6% in February.

China’s Ministry of Finance will sell 1 trillion yuan of ultra-long special sovereign bonds, paving the way for policy support to spur ailing credit demand.

US stocks surged when Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell indicated in a press conference that policymakers believed it was unlikely that they would raise rates again in this cycle.

BHP proposed buying rival Anglo American in a £31bn deal that provoked a backlash from the South African government and leading shareholders.

US GDP increased at an annualised rate of 1.6% in the January to March period, falling short of the 2.4% estimate.

Investors drove gold prices to a record high, the latest surge in a 17% rally so far this year. Over this period, bullion prices have climbed more than twice as fast as the S&P 500.