The spread between 30-year and 5-year Government Bond Yields in the US fell to 0.32% this week, the narrowest gap since 2007. This means the US yield curve is very flat and there is a limited reward for investors to lend money to the US Treasury for the long-term; they would receive just an extra 0.3% per year if they wait a quarter of a century longer (in 2010 it would have been an extra 3% per year).

You would think, based on the surprise that has greeted President Trump’s recent decision to walk to the brink of a trade war with China, that he had not talked about punishing the Chinese trade practices for years.

Markets started the new quarter on the back foot with news of Chinese tariffs on US imports, in a tit-for-tat retaliation for the previously announced US tariffs on Chinese imports, notably steel and aluminium.

12 months and counting...... We have now reached the halfway point between Article 50 being triggered and 29 March 2019, the date the UK will leave the EU. Both sides remain in negotiations, which may extend beyond ‘Brexit Day’, with a transition deal providing a grace period until the end of 2020, after which the UK is due to start trading with the European Union under new terms.