Merged UBS and Credit Suisse to become world’s third biggest asset manager, the Fed’s balance sheet swells, while a systemic credit event is perceived as a very real risk by fund managers. Each week, the Syz investment team takes you through the last seven days in seven charts.

What if the Federal Reserve raised its funds rates for the last time this cycle?

US equity returns varied widely over the week as banking industry and recession worries weighed on value stocks and small-caps, while large-cap growth stocks benefited from falling interest rates. Financials underperformed for a third consecutive week while the average stock remained significantly weaker than the S&P 500 Index’s return suggests.

UBS and Credit Suisse strike a deal UBS to buy Credit Suisse for 3 billion Swiss francs, volatility is more visible in the bond markets than in the equity markets and Bitcoin takes advantage of the banking crisis. Each week, the Syz investment team takes you through the last seven days in seven charts.

The UBS/Credit Suisse agreement will have a material impact on the entire AT1 market!

US stocks closed mixed for the week, reflecting the crosscurrents of stresses in the banking sector, worries that a steeper slowdown in the economy would follow, and hopes that the Fed would now be forced to pause its rate-hiking cycle. Sector returns within the S&P 500 Index varied widely: mega-cap tech stocks recorded strong gains while financials and energy shares suffered significant losses.

The Silicon Valley Bank story put the brakes on rising interest rates

SVB failure - the knock-on effect on US regional banks The KBW index of US regional banks lost nearly 18% of its value last week, following the failure of Silicon Valley Bank. Each week, the Syz investment team takes you through the last seven days in seven charts.

Stocks pulled back sharply over the week, as investors absorbed more hawkish talks from Jerome Powell and signs that the Fed still had work to do in cooling inflation. The S&P 500 Index fell on Friday to its lowest intraday level since January 5 as the selling accelerated after the index broke both its 100-day and 200-day moving averages. Financials led the declines and contributed to the pronounced weakness in value stocks.

Jerome Powell spoke yesterday in the US Senate to present the Fed’s semi-annual monetary policy report. The Fed’s Chair took this opportunity to reiterate the commitment of the Fed in bringing inflation lower.