Second-quarter earnings got off to a strong start in the US with solid results from big banks, but now markets will be focused on what the technology hyperscalers have to say about both earnings and their spending plans, says Dr. Dirk Steffen, the Private Bank's EMEA CIO. "We're getting closer to 1 trillion, maybe in a year or so, a trillion dollars that will be spent by a handful of companies in terms of capex and tech investments,” Dirk says. “It will be very important to hear what these companies are telling us about what they're planning to do."

In the fixed-income space, Dirk notes that a large wave of issuance from big technology firms earmarked for AI spending could be a factor keeping sovereign bond yields elevated. “This is leading to maybe a touch of less demand for sovereigns,” he says, noting that key market participants tend to favour corporate investment-grade bonds over their government counterparts.

In the week ahead, a policy decision from the European Central Bank will be interesting to watch, even though it is widely expected that interest rates will remain unchanged. “It will be interesting to see how they judge the current situation, especially in light of the renewed rise in oil prices and what it means for European economies.”

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