Economic slowdown and opportunities in international markets
The OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) warns that global economic growth is set to slow down. Instead of an acceleration, the organisation sees the economy losing momentum. This is partly due to persistent inflation in the United States, which has a major impact on the rest of the world.
In the United States, there are currently concerns regarding industry and consumption. The Empire State index, which measures activity in the New York region, fell significantly in March. Additionally, retail figures were disappointing; sales in February rose less sharply than experts had previously expected.
The American housing market is also showing a decline. Confidence among US homebuilders fell further in March. On the other hand, business inventories in the United States grew in January exactly as expected. These figures provide a mixed picture of the current state of the world's largest economy.
Despite the mixed reports from the US, European stock markets were up around midday. This was mainly due to positive economic data from China, which encouraged investors. For the American stock markets on Wall Street, expectations at the start of the day were still unclear; forecasts fluctuated between a flat, slightly higher, or slightly lower opening.
In these uncertain times, investors are also looking at other investments, such as gold. The bank UBS expects the gold price to rise further in the coming period. The price of gold recently reached a record high of more than $3,000 per troy ounce. This shows that many people are looking for safety for their money.
Finally, there is much attention on the world of cryptocurrencies. The crypto market remains a place of high risk, but also of opportunities for investors. Analysts are specifically looking at the coin Ripple (XRP). Investigations are underway to see if this coin will soon make a major jump in value, although the final direction of the price has yet to become clear.