Market Overview – February 2024
Groundhog Day · 14 Februar 2024
Like Bill Murray in the film "Groundhog Day", stock markets began 2024 with a sense of déjà vu, replicating the dynamics observed in 2023. The month of January turned out to be positive for the most part equity indices, with the technology sector once again taking center stage as the main driver of performance. One of the catalysts was the announcement of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company's results. Its optimistic outlook not only reflects the company's strong position, but also signals the anticipated growth of the technology sector as a whole given its fundamental role in semiconductors. This was confirmed at the end of the month, leading technology companies showed high growth and profitability. This good performance comes largely from demand driven by artificial intelligence and “cloud” technologies. In sectoral terms, it is therefore no surprise that the technology and communication services sectors outperformed the others. Real estate remained under pressure at the start of the year with new weaknesses coming from China and American commercial real estate which remains highly exposed to the impact of the home office.