Negative returns for global indices

The US Nasdaq saw the worst results, down 5.21 per cent last week.

The significant pullback by tech heavy index was led by a 13.59pc fall by Nvidia, a 14.03pc drop by Tesla, and a 10.88pc fall from Netflix.

Tesla's week added further losses for the electric car maker which as of Friday was down 44pc from its start of the year highs.

The Nasdaq losses were only exceeded by Japan's Nikkei index which fell by 6.21pc last week.

The US S&P 500 fell by 3.05pc while the Shanghai 300 was the only major index to finish last week with positive return, up 1.89pc.

Australian markets didn't fare much better than the rest of the globe, with the ASX 200 down 2.84pc over the week.

Australia saw March unemployment data released last week which rose to 3.8pc from 3.7pc the previous month.

The data confirms the unemployment rate has been broadly steady for the last few years. Other than last January, the unemployment rate has been below 4pc for the last two years.

While a consistent unemployment rate suggests some resilience in the economy, other measures of the labour market have shown a more material pullback from the post pandemic tightness.

These include medium-term and youth unemployment rates that have begun to trend upwards.

US Federal Reserve members continue to suggest there is no urgency to cut rates in the US. Last week New York Fed president John Williams was asked a question about the central bank resuming rate hikes, he said it isn't his base case but "if the data are telling us that we would need higher interest rates to achieve our goals, then we would obviously want to do that."

In commodities, oil was down over the week with West Texas Intermediate down 2.94pc and brent crude down 3.49pc. The fall in price reflects reduced fears of Iran supply chain restrictions, via tougher sanctions or broader conflict in the region.

All other commodities had an up week, led by aluminium which jumped 7pc over the week after the Monday news of London Metal Exchange bans on Russian supply into the market.

All other metals posted strong gains with copper finishing the week up 5.51pc. Gold added another 1.79pc to end the week at a new record closing high of $2392.