St James Place : Crossing the line

Actions speak louder than words. President Trump's sabre-rattling rhetoric over North Korea dominated the build-up to last week's summit meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping. But it was his decision to launch a surprise missile attack on a Syrian airbase that overshadowed events at Trump's Florida hotel resort and shared the headlines with news of another tragic terrorist attack, this time in Stockholm.

Tellingly, while quick to condemn the US action, Russia didn't even activate its Syrian-based air defence missiles which could have intercepted the attack, reflecting perhaps a sense of realism and a recognition that, ultimately, it needs a deal with the US over Syria.

This week's bulletin also includes:

• Wall Street settles after Syrian missile strike and disappointing US jobs numbers.
• Eurozone unemployment hits an eight-year low and Greece agrees new bailout reforms.
• UK growth slows in first quarter while Theresa May appears to soften her Brexit stance.
• Prudent investors will take early advantage of the increased ISA allowance this tax year.

View this week's Market Bulletin, which contains thoughts and opinions of St. James's Place and our range of investment managers on the key issues affecting investors.