Market Updates

The overall U.S. policy response to the coronavirus shock has been decisive and comprehensive, already exceeding the scale of policy action in other major developed economies. In BlackRock’s view, the U.S. stock market also has a relatively high concentration of quality companies with the capacity to weather the storm.

We see an overall weekly outperformance for the oil and gas sector. A drop off in volumes suggests that the majority of de-risking has now happened, with investors now looking for signs of stabilisation. Health care names outperformed last week with the dividend angle helping to support the space.

Unprecedented policy actions to limit the coronavirus shock and sharply lower valuations have improved the outlook for credit.

The picture remains fairly bleak with regards to COVID-19 newsflow and it’s unlikely normality will return in Europe for some time. However, any meaningful positive news on improving rates of infection/deaths would support investor sentiment.

A sustainable investing wave playing out in financial markets over the coming decades, remaking economies and industries as capital is reallocated to sustainable assets.

Drastic market moves in recent weeks – triggered by fears of the coronavirus outbreak and its economic toll saw sharp equity selloffs and government bond yield declines.

The coronavirus outbreak is set to deliver a sharp and deep economic shock. Market moves are reminiscent of the 2008 crisis, but BlackRock don’t think this is a repeat.

The coronavirus outbreak has continued to roil markets while Central banks have started cutting rates to mitigate the virus shock, and governments are readying further actions.

Last week, global equities suffered their worst week since the global financial crisis over a decade ago, as concerns over the economic impact of the spread of the coronavirus dampened investor sentiment.

As in recent weeks, concerns over the coronavirus weighed on investor sentiment globally.