Latest Irish Life weekly markets update

Key talking points include:

• It was another mixed week for equity markets, as concerns about the broader economic implications of AI adoption beyond the technology sector reinforced the trend of investors rotating away from the US.
• Emerging market equities have been a major beneficiary of this trend, up 10.6% YTD, supported by an improved growth outlook, low relative valuations and a weakening US dollar.
• The S&P 500 fell by 1.4% (MTD -1.4%, YTD 0.0%) while the Euro Stoxx 600 rose by 0.1% (MTD 1.1%, YTD 4.4%).
• This week, data releases are light but investors will watch for any fallout from another US government shutdown as well as parsing the minutes of the Federal Reserve rate meeting and the December job openings. We may also get a Supreme Court ruling on the legality of US tariffs at the end of the week.