St James Place : Toil and trouble

'But dawning day new comfort hath inspired,' said Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus.

The same could not be said at the dawn of the 400th year since the Bard's death. Instead, markets offered a sobering reminder thatthe global recovery is beset by challenges.

In an echo of 2015, last week's troubles bubbled up in China before spilling over to markets right around the world. When Chinese markets opened for the year last Monday, the Chinese currency immediately began to drop against the dollar; it ended the week more than 1.5% below its value at the end of 2015. Despite the intervention of the index-supportive 'national team' on Friday, the Shanghai Composite index had a dismal start to 2016, ending the week almost 10% below where it had finished 2015.

This week's bulletin also includes:

• A slide in both the renminbi and Chinese stocks raised broader questions about confidence.
• Oil and copper reached new multi-year lows as demand expectations remained subdued.
• New figures revealed record low savings rates and worrying trends following pension freedoms.
• Fed minutes and eurozone statistics pointed to shared worries over subdued inflation.

View this week's Market Bulletin, which contains thoughts and opinions of St. James's Place and our range of investment managers on the key issues affecting investors.

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