Volatility ramped after Israel mounted a retaliation strike on Iran Thursday night (18th April). We also highlight development in currencies where conditions in Asia have moved closer to possible intervention. Finally, we summarise the latest for semiconductors after ASML & TSMC latest earnings.

Must reads…

Input to help revamp your investments
- Is your portfolio designed to weather the new political era?

Crude oil remains responsive to geopolitical risk
- Crude oil's risk premium ebbs and flows

Could we see a yuan devaluation hit financial markets?
- A test for PBoC patience

Price corrections are starting to take place across Semiconductor firms
- ASML earnings

The week ahead…

A very busy week for corporate earnings with the key earnings releases expected drive sentiment in equities being Tesla, Meta, Caterpillar, Microsoft, and Alphabet (Google).
Bank of Japan policy meeting scheduled for 26th April.
In fixed income attention turns to the upcoming 2-, 5-, and 7-year U.S. Treasury auctions, along with preliminary U.S. GDP figures and the PCE deflator. Additionally, Lagarde's speech at Yale University (22nd April) is on the radar.
Later this week volatility will also be influenced by a myriad of economic news to be published (S&P Global US Manufacturing PMI, Durable Goods Orders, GDP, Initial Jobless Claims and Core PCE Price Index) which will have effect on future interest rate decisions.