Tariff moves from the U.S. administration have continued to hold centre stage, and "it has been a very volatile period,” notes Deepak Puri, the Private Bank’s Chief Investment Officer for the Americas. "The baseline of what that means for the macro environment is still to be determined”, Deepak says. “The market is still in a wait-and-watch mode."

Earnings season has gotten started in the U.S., and a policy decision is expected from the European Central Bank in the week ahead. But tariff concerns are likely to hold the limelight for the time being. "I expect the tariff situation to be an overhang on markets for some time.”