We had hoped that OPEC would announce a further increase in their output quotas following their October meeting to help satisfy the recovering demand, but unfortunately the cartel simply stated that it would stick to its previously announced increase of 400,000 barrels a day from November.

It hasn’t been a great start to the week for equity markets as Europe’s gas and China’s electricity shortages continue to push energy prices higher

It has been a frustrating start to the week as equity markets opened down heavily on speculation that Evergrande would default on its debt repayments.

Focus so far this week has been on inflation data, given we had the US reading yesterday (Tuesday 14 September 2021) and the UK’s earlier this morning.

As summer is slowly drawing to an end, it has been a relatively quiet start to the week.

Monday’s (23 August 2021) PMI (Purchasing Managers’ Index) data was both positive and well-timed given all the recent media headlines talking about another global growth contraction

It has been a downbeat start to the week for global equity markets thanks to concerns that the spread of the delta variant could put a stop to the global economic recovery, especially as this week’s data releases have included disappointing US retail sales.

Investors have continued to digest last week’s strong US jobs report and updated policy guidance from the Bank of England, whilst the reaction from equity markets has remained largely muted so far this week.

With most major economic updates still to come, global equity market gains have largely been driven by company results so far this week.

Equities in both China and Hong Kong have fallen heavily so far this week as China’s President, Xi Jinping, continues to clampdown on the power of big Chinese companies.