Chapters
Global stocks
Global equities had a decent August, with a tug-of-war between risk-on and risk-off sentiment settling the way of the former as investors navigated several noteworthy narratives. The month began in the red, with a weak US jobs report – which included the biggest set of monthly downward revisions since May 2020 – sparking fears of a slowdown. However, this proved to be a temporary blip as July’s inflation report showed little impact from President Trump’s tariffs and – crucially – Fed Chair Jerome Powell signalled that interest rate cuts are on the horizon. In addition, company earnings season was broadly positive, with a number of the big tech names beating estimates.
Turning to politics, there was hope of some positive developments in Ukraine, underpinned by a meeting between Trump and Putin in Alaska, but no deal was agreed. French assets came under pressure towards the end of the month after Prime Minister Bayrou called a confidence vote, while weak macro data out of Germany dampened sentiment towards its market. Over in China, it was a different story, with optimism around US-China trade talks and media reports suggesting Beijing could relax its approach to digital assets, lifting its equity market.
| Indices (total return in local currency) | |
|---|---|
| S&P 500 | 2.0% |
| Nasdaq Composite | 1.6% |
| MSCI ACWI | 2.5% |
| Nikkei 225 | 4.1% |
| EuroStoxx 600 | 0.7% |
| FTSE 100 | 1.2% |
| Hang Seng Index | 1.3% |
| SSE Composite | 8.0% |
Source: Bloomberg as at 29 August 2025.
