Weekly Market Update 30/08/2024
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer gave a speech prior to the autumn budget warning of tax rises to fill the £22bn “black hole” left by the Conservatives. Labour has ruled out increases to income tax, VAT, and national insurance. However, Starmer did not elaborate on which taxes would be raised, and he made no reference to Labour’s previous vow to keep corporation tax unchanged at 25%.
Despite reporting that revenues had more than doubled in the last quarter, Nvidia shares fell more than 6% on Thursday as the company’s earnings report released on Wednesday was unable to live up to the highest analyst expectations. Investors were left underwhelmed, as they had become used to the chipmaker far outperforming expectations since the launch of ChatGPT two years ago. The decline wiped almost $200bn off the company’s value, although shares are still up 140% since the beginning of the year.
According to data from Nationwide, UK house prices recorded the fastest annual growth in August since 2022, with prices rising 2.4% year on year. However, prices are 0.2% below where they were in July. The combination of cheaper mortgages and earnings growth has increased affordability, and the average house price in the UK now stands at £265,375. Property website Zoopla reported that the number of homes on the market is at a seven year high, and 14% higher than this time last year.
Andrea Wood, Chartered MCSI
Investment Manager
