With a Shallow Recession and an Official Bull Market on the Cards, the Markets Balanced and Ended the Week Flat

The Eurozone is suffering whilst the US is starting to boom again

WORDS BY
Zoe Burt
Published
March 15, 2024
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UK & Europe: Shallow recession

Americas: Bull market & interest rates

Asia & Australasia: Oil Prices and OPEC+ 

Stock World: Crypto regulation

UK & Europe: Shallow recession

The Eurozone entered an official recession last week, as growth shrunk by 0.1% both in the first quarter of 2023 and the last quarter or 2022.

But since it is just a small amount of shrinkage, many are dubbing it a ‘shallow recession’. 

Whilst energy prices have come down, the effects of inflation are being felt across the region which has led to a reduction in consumer spending, and therefore, a contraction in the economy. 

Off the back of this, most European markets ended the week in the negative.

Markus Winkler / Unsplash

Americas: Bull market & interest rates

The Central Bank of Canada made a surprise hike to interest rates on Wednesday, opting to raise them by 0.25%.

The move comes after putting a pause on increasing interest rates. But with inflation still not as low as they’d like, they've taken a quick reverse on their strategy.

Meanwhile, the S&P 500 moved into official bull market territory, showing more positive signs for the markets. 

There was additional optimism on the markets as many are hoping that the Federal Reserve's meeting this week will pause the interest rate rises in the US. 

However, many fear that most of the growth in the markets is being driven by a very small section of the market, notably tech. 

Allie Lehman / Death to Stock

Asia & Australasia: Oil Prices and OPEC+ 

OPEC+, a cartel of oil producing nations, met last weekend to discuss how to combat the falling oil prices. 

Whilst some voted against, it was agreed that Saudi Arabia would cut oil production by 1 million barrels per day. 

Oil prices jumped at the beginning of the week in response to the news, but slid mid week on the back of weak export data emerging from China. 

Australia’s Central Reserve Bank also decided to hike their interest rates by 4.1%, also in an attempt to curb inflation. 

Ian Simmonds / Unsplash

Stock World: Crypto regulation

US regulators filed lawsuits against Binance and Coinbase, two of the biggest crypto platforms in the USA.
Most of the accusations in the lawsuits revolve around the handling of customer funds and clarity of marketing. 

The CEO of Binance, Changpeng Zhao, has denied any of the allegations. 

Nonetheless, Binance users dashed to withdraw $800 million after the announcement of the lawsuits, which led to them putting a freeze on further withdrawals. 

The FCA in the UK also announced new regulatory measures for crypto platforms. 

This will prevent the ‘refer a friend’ incentives, as well as introducing a cooling off period for the platforms.

Pierre Borthiry / Unsplash

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