Markets have made a strong start to the week, with sentiment supported by easing inflationary pressures and lower bond yields. European equities finished mostly higher on Tuesday as softer oil prices and a slight fall in French government bond yields boosted investor confidence.

Markets have had a cautious start to the week, with equities drifting lower as a selloff in government bonds weighed on risk appetite. U.S. Treasury yields spiked on Tuesday as investors increasingly priced in a higher-for-longer interest rate environment, with the move reverberating across global fixed income markets and pushing sovereign bond yields higher in other major economies.

It has been a relatively quiet week for markets from a global macroeconomic perspective. In the UK, attention is turning towards next month’s much-anticipated Autumn Budget, with the latest public finance figures providing an important backdrop. Government borrowing rose to £18.3 billion in August, exceeding forecasts of around £15 billion. Despite this, the UK’s debt-to-GDP ratio remained broadly stable at just under 94%.

This week, comments from senior AI figures including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei briefly unsettled AI-related equities, with semiconductor stocks particularly affected. Their comments centred not on bringing AI development to a halt, but on whether the pace of progress should be moderated so that safety measures and oversight can keep up with increasingly capable systems.

Global financial markets made a subdued start to the week, with US equity markets closed on Monday for the Labor Day holiday. Meanwhile, escalating tensions between the US and Iran over the weekend provided support for oil prices, with Brent crude rising to just under $98 per barrel adding to inflation concerns.

In India, manufacturing PMI eased to 52.8 in August from 53.5 in July. While a reading above 50 still indicates expansion, the decline points to a slower pace of growth, with new orders, export demand and manufacturing output all losing momentum. Employment also fell for the first time in nearly two years, clearly signalling that businesses are becoming more cautious.

While it has been a positive week so far, market moves have been relatively subdued as investors look ahead to Nvidia’s earnings release. As the semiconductor giant at the centre of the AI investment theme, its results are expected to provide an important gauge of AI-related demand.

This week in China, data revealed some moderation in the region’s economic momentum. Factory output grew 4.5% year on year in July, down from 5.3% in June. Compounding this, consumers also kept their purses firmly in their pockets, with retail sales growing by just 0.6%, compared with 1% in June. The significance of the data is being treated with some caution, with markets reluctant to interpret it too negatively at this stage.

Markets have started the week cautiously, with equities consolidating after last week’s strong rally. US equities have edged marginally lower, while European markets have remained relatively resilient, supported by stronger earnings.

Markets had a generally positive week this week, with equities rising, oil prices easing, and investors closely watching central bank policy, AI-driven growth, and developments in Japan’s currency market.