Market performance has been mixed this week as earnings season gets underway and President Donald Trump’s 1 August trade deadline approaches.

Market performance thus far this week has been fairly muted with investors waiting in anticipation to digest a slew of economic data.

Global equities began the week on a cautious footing, with markets retreating modestly on Monday amid renewed trade tensions.

Market attention was beginning to shift toward the 9th of July deadline for President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs to take effect, amid continued mixed signals from the White House.

A relatively quiet week on the economic calendar had investors looking mainly to what was coming out of the US to make their next moves. On Monday, President Trump announced a “complete and total ceasefire” between Israel and Iran following 12 days of conflict, a statement later confirmed by the Israeli Prime Minister.

Global equity markets have had a quiet start to the week as investors await a key U.S. inflation reading due later today.

Eurozone inflation slowed to 1.9% in May, down from 2.2% in April, marking the first time since September 2023 that price growth has dipped below the European Central Bank’s 2% target. Core inflation, which excludes volatile items such as food and energy, also declined to 2.4%, compared to 2.7% the month before.

Tentative signs of improvement have surfaced in China’s industrial sector. Data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed that industrial profits rose 1.4% year-on-year between January and April, which is an improvement from the 0.8% growth recorded in the first quarter.

UK inflation came in higher than expected for April, with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rising to 3.5%, up from the 2.6% rise in prices in March. Core inflation—which strips out the more volatile categories of energy, food, alcohol, and tobacco—also climbed, reaching 3.8% in the 12 months to April, compared to 3.4% in the previous period.

The United States and China announced a breakthrough in trade talks on Monday, agreeing to pause most of the tariffs imposed on each other’s products for a period of 90 days. As part of the deal, both nations will significantly reduce their mutual tariffs— the US will cut tariffs on Chinese goods from 145% to 30%, while China will cut tariffs on American imports from 125% to 10%.