LSE:ABF 16 August 2025 - 21 April 2026

Stocks Near Peaks: Global markets hovered around record highs. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit an intra-day record before inching up 0.08% by Friday’s close reuters.com. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite, however, dipped 0.3% and 0.4% respectively as tech and financial shares pulled back reuters.com. Still, one strategist noted the rally’s resilience: “This market continues to move higher and the story is just earnings and margins”, with strong U.S. corporate profits buoying sentiment reuters.com. U.S. retail sales data showed consumers remain resilient even after a hotter-than-expected producer price spike, which briefly rekindled inflation worries reuters.com. In Europe, the pan-European STOXX 600 index touched a five-month high before ending flat on the week, supported by a “largely positive earnings season” across the continent reuters.com. The MSCI All-Country World Index also held near record territory reuters.com. Central Bank Signals: Bond markets hinted at shifting monetary tides. U.S. Treasury yields climbed as traders hedged for Federal Reserve rate cuts later this year reuters.com. In a late-Friday interview, San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly affirmed that “two [rate cuts]… sometime this year” could be appropriate given cooling labor markets and above-target inflation reuters.com. Traders still largely expect the Fed’s first