So May saw the end of May… following the European elections, Theresa May resigned as Prime Minister and over the next few weeks, the Conservative party will be choosing their new leader and Prime Minister. With the Brexit deadline moved to the end of October, this will be the main priority for the new leader.
Despite this, global stock markets were mainly impacted this month by the on-going trade war rhetoric between the United States and China.
The FTSE 100 Index closed May at 7,161.71, which was 3.5% lower than the April closing level.
In the US, the Dow Jones 30 suffered a bigger fall of 6.7%, ending May at 24,815.04.
In terms of currency, £ Sterling ended May at 1.26 US Dollars. This was 3.1% lower than the closing figure at the end of April.
It was a similar story against the Euro as £ Sterling ended May at 1.13 Euros, which was 2.8% lower than the April closing figure.
Inflation, as measured by the Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers’ housing costs (CPIH), was 2.0% in April 2019 (this is April’s data which is reported in May). This was up from 1.8% in the previous month. The 12-month rate for the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rate which excludes owner occupied housing costs and council tax was 2.1% in April 2019, again up from 1.9% in March 2019.
The Bank of England maintained interest rates at 0.75% in May. The last change was an increase in August last year. This means long-suffering deposit savers are likely to continue to lose money in real terms when you consider the rate of savings interest compared to the rate of inflation.
The Omnis Managed funds, Openwork Graphene Model Portfolios and Omnis Managed Portfolio Service provide you with a diversified asset allocation in line with your Attitude to Risk, investing in Developed Market Equities, such as UK, US, Europe and Asia Pacific as well as Emerging Market equities. Cautious and Balanced investors will also have significant holdings in UK and Global Bonds, as well as Alternative Strategies.
We believe this multi-asset approach aims to give you the best opportunity for the highest level of return for your stated level of risk. Past performance is not a guide to future performance. The value of an investment and any income from it can fall as well as rise as a result of market and currency fluctuations. You may not get back the amount you originally invested.
