2 cases of the deadly Coronavirus have been confirmed in England while there were 6 confirmed cases in the US with over 165 people suspected in the US. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared a global health emergency.

After 3 years, the UK officially left the EU on Jan 31, starting a transition period up to the end of 2020 to lock in a new trade deal. The Prime Minister hailed this as “the dawn of a new era” for Britain.

The Bank of England held its benchmark interest rate at 0.75% cutting its growth outlook for UK through 2022. BOE officials have signalled that if economic weakness persists an interest cut is very likely.

On Jan 28, Apple reported its quarterly results, posting a record revenue of $91.8 Billion, while Amazon also reported a blow-out quarter posting a revenue of $87.4 Billion. Share prices of both companies surged by over 5% each.

On Monday Feb 3, US ISM manufacturing numbers will be reported and is expected to come in at 48.4.

On Wednesday Feb 5, UK Service PMI will be reported and is expected to come in at 52.9.

+0.65*

-1.0     A score of -1.0 indicates an extremely poor economic outlook, which is accompanied by a high probability of negative returns in risky asset classes like equities. The Risk Barometer tilts our portfolios away from equities during such periods.

0.0       A score of 0 indicates a neutral economic outlook with almost equal probability of positive and negative returns in risky asset classes like equities. The Risk Barometer maintains a balance between equities and other asset classes during such periods.

+1.0   A score of +1.0 indicates an extremely positive economic outlook, which is accompanied by a high probability of positive returns in risky asset classes like equities. The Risk Barometer tilts our portfolios towards equities during such periods.

*as at latest realignment 31/12/19

Notice:

The performance of each asset class is represented by certain Exchange Traded Funds available to UK investors and expressed in GBP terms selected by Copia Capital Management to represent that asset class, as reported at previous Thursday 4:30pm UK close. Reference to a particular asset class does not represent a recommendation to seek exposure to that asset class. This information is included for comparison purposes for the period stated, but is not an indicator of potential maximum loss for other periods or in the future.