Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that a locally developed vaccine for Covid-19 has been given regulatory approval after less than two months of testing on humans. Experts were quick to raise concerns about the speed of Russia’s work, and a growing list of countries have expressed scepticism. Personally, we won’t be lining up for a jab just yet.

The S&P 500 (an index of the 500 largest US stocks) closed at an all-time record high on Tuesday, fully recovering from the losses it experienced in Spring. A day later, Apple became the first US company to reach a $2 trillion valuation, making its market value larger than the GDP of Canada. The tech company will need to deliver on some very demanding expectations in order to justify that valuation.

UK house prices hit an all-time high this week as pent up demand fuelled the largest monthly rise in 16 years. The average home in the UK is now worth over £224,000, 3.7% more than they were last August.

Equity and fixed income markets sustained their remarkable recovery last month thanks to continued government funding. But as prices rose, potential returns fell, and value became harder to find.

Volatility in the tech sector continued this week, taking the froth out of some rich valuations. Investors are
grappling with the recent market turbulence, assessing whether the pullback for equities is a sign of market
health or the start of a larger drawdown that has further to go.

Our Chief Investment Officer Philip Smeaton, CFA spoke to Christian May at City AM this morning about how markets have behaved in recent months and the forces that could shape them over the rest of the year.