Market Commentary March
05 April 2017
The FTSE 100 finished March up 0.82%. The Bank of England held the base rate of interest rate at 0.25%, however, inflation crept above the bank’s 2% target reaching 2.3%. If inflation continues to rise the Bank may need to consider increasing the base rate of interest, however most commentators believe this is sometime away.
In the US, the Dow Jones reached an all-time high of 21,091 on the first day of the month. However, the index finished the month down, settling at 20,663.22. The first real test of Donald Trump’s presidency ended in a surprise defeat with the President failing to repeal Obamacare. This has taken the edge off the so called “Trump rally”.
Crude oil has fallen 6.51% in March as global inventories show signs of increasing. On the plus side, there has been a slight reduction in the price of petrol at the pumps. (Or at least that is what is expected!)
Gold started the month poorly as the dollar continued to strengthen. However, following the rise in interest rates the dollar has started to weaken and gold has finished the month broadly even at US$1,249.20
| 31 March 2017 | 1 month | 6 months | 12 months | |
| FTSE 100 | 7,322.92 | 0.82% | 6.14% | 18.59% |
| GBP/USD | 1.2534 | 0.88% | 8.27% | -12.40% |
| GBP/EUR | 1.1717 | 0.14% | -9.96% | -7.20% |
| Brent Crude (US$) | 52.83 | -6.51% | 7.68% | 33.41% |
| Gold (US$ per oz) | 1,249.20 | 0.06% | -5.07% | 1.33% |
Sources: www.bloomberg.com and www.xe.com
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