Market Monitor - 05 February 2021
Insights

Market Monitor – 05 February 2021

Stock markets around the world have bounced back this week, recovering recent losses and surging ahead thanks to growing optimism about the impact of coronavirus vaccinations. Reports from the United States that Congress looks increasingly likely to pass a stimulus bill worth almost $2 trillion later this month have also driven global share prices higher. Vaccines offer the clearest route out of the pandemic and back to sustainable economic growth, and there have been a number of reasons for confidence on this front in the past few days. As well as the rapid roll-out of inoculation programmes in the likes of the UK, the US and the Middle East, new research suggests existing vaccines can help limit the spread of the disease rather than simply reducing the impact of the Covid-19 on individuals. In the meantime, however, governments remain under pressure to offer substantial support for businesses and consumers.

US markets

Earlier this week, there were concerns that the thin Democrat majority in Congress could limit their ability to pass a significant stimulus package in the face of Republican opposition – but these difficulties now appear to have been overcome. The planned $1.9tn spending programme is expected to help the US avert a double-dip recession, and prices on Wall Street have surged this week as a result. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended trading on Thursday 3.6% up for the week so far, with the S&P 500 gaining 4.2% to reach another all-time high. There was more good news in the US as the impact of organised groups of retail investors – coordinated on platforms such as Reddit and Facebook – appeared to recede after an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to inflate the price of silver at the start of the week. And sentiment has also been helped by some solid company results: Google parent Alphabet led the way with strong fourth-quarter figures.

The UK & Europe

In the UK, the FTSE 100 ended Thursday 1.5% ahead for the week: the relatively muted gains were partly due to sterling’s strength, against the euro in particular. The Bank of England helped the pound by downplaying the prospect of introducing negative interest rates – although the country’s banks have been told they should prepare for this eventuality over the next six months. Both BP and Shell reported major losses for 2020 – an inevitable consequence of the pandemic and falling oil price last year. The successful roll-out of the UK’s vaccination programme has raised hopes that the economy could reopen fully in the spring or summer, boosting the price of shares in hard-hit sectors such as travel and hospitality. In Frankfurt, the DAX index ended Thursday’s up 4.7% for the week, while France’s CAC 40 gained 3.9%. Share prices on the Continent were helped by a fall in the euro this week, which had the effect of inflating the value of overseas earnings. But investors in the eurozone are hopeful the European Union can put its early vaccination programme mis-steps behind it and drive economic recovery later this year.
29/01/2021
04/02/2021
Change (%)
FTSE 100
6407.5
6503.7
1.5
FTSE All-share
3642.6
3706.2
1.7
S&P 500
3714.2
3871.7
4.2
Dow Jones
29982.6
31055.9
3.6
DAX
13432.9
14060.3
4.7
CAC-40
5399.2
5608.5
0.8
ACWI
642.9
666.8
3.7

Note: all market data contained within the article is sourced from Bloomberg unless stated otherwise, data as at 04/02/2021.

5 February 2021
Mark King
Head of Investment Content
Share article
Share on linkedin
Share on email
Key topics
Related topics
Listen on Stitcher badge
Share article
Share on linkedin
Share on email
Key topics
Related topics

PDF

Market Monitor – 05 February 2021

Important information

Past performance is not a guide to future performance. Your capital is at risk. The value of investments and any income is not guaranteed and can go down as well as up and may be affected by exchange rate fluctuations. This means that an investor may not get back the amount invested. This document is not investment, legal, tax, or accounting advice. Investors should consult with their own professional advisors for advice on any investment, legal, tax, or accounting issues relating to an investment with Columbia Threadneedle Investments. The analysis included in this document has been produced by Columbia Threadneedle Investments for its own investment management activities, may have been acted upon prior to publication and is made available here incidentally. Any opinions expressed are made as at the date of publication but are subject to change without notice and should not be seen as investment advice. This document includes forward looking statements, including projections of future economic and financial conditions. None of Columbia Threadneedle Investments, its directors, officers or employees make any representation, warranty, guaranty, or other assurance that any of these forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate. Information obtained from external sources is believed to be reliable, but its accuracy or completeness cannot be guaranteed. Issued by Threadneedle Asset Management Limited. Registered in England and Wales, Registered No. 573204, Cannon Place, 78 Cannon Street, London EC4N 6AG, United Kingdom. Authorised and regulated in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority. Columbia Threadneedle Investments is the global brand name of the Columbia and Threadneedle group of companies. columbiathreadneedle.com

Related Insights

No data was found
8 March 2024

Jim Griffin

Investment Content Manager

Market Monitor – 8 March 2024

Global stock markets largely made steady gains this week as central banks remain on course to start relaxing monetary policy in the next few months.
Read time - 3 min
1 March 2024

Tochi Nwozuzu

Content Marketing Executive

Market Monitor – 1 March 2024

Global stock markets this week consolidated recent gains to round off a positive month as hopes of imminent interest rate cuts grow.
Read time - 3 min
23 February 2024

Tochi Nwozuzu

Content Marketing Executive

Market Monitor – 23 February 2024

Stock markets around the world enjoyed a buoyant week as investors focused on the potential for technological advances to drive growth, regardless of wider macroeconomic conditions.
Read time - 3 min
true
true

Important information

Past performance is not a guide to future performance. Your capital is at risk. The value of investments and any income is not guaranteed and can go down as well as up and may be affected by exchange rate fluctuations. This means that an investor may not get back the amount invested. This document is not investment, legal, tax, or accounting advice. Investors should consult with their own professional advisors for advice on any investment, legal, tax, or accounting issues relating to an investment with Columbia Threadneedle Investments. The analysis included in this document has been produced by Columbia Threadneedle Investments for its own investment management activities, may have been acted upon prior to publication and is made available here incidentally. Any opinions expressed are made as at the date of publication but are subject to change without notice and should not be seen as investment advice. This document includes forward looking statements, including projections of future economic and financial conditions. None of Columbia Threadneedle Investments, its directors, officers or employees make any representation, warranty, guaranty, or other assurance that any of these forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate. Information obtained from external sources is believed to be reliable, but its accuracy or completeness cannot be guaranteed. Issued by Threadneedle Asset Management Limited. Registered in England and Wales, Registered No. 573204, Cannon Place, 78 Cannon Street, London EC4N 6AG, United Kingdom. Authorised and regulated in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority. Columbia Threadneedle Investments is the global brand name of the Columbia and Threadneedle group of companies. columbiathreadneedle.com

You may also like

Investment approach

Teamwork defines us and is fundamental to our investment approach, which is structured to facilitate the generation, assessment and implementation of good, strong investment ideas for our portfolios.

Find your fund

Columbia Threadneedle Investments has a comprehensive range of investment funds catering for a broad range of objectives.

Types of investment

We offer a broad range of actively managed investment strategies and solutions covering global, regional and domestic markets and asset classes.