Before reviewing the past month going into publication, we had tragic news of the Hamas militant group attack on Israeli citizens. Israel has responded by launching retaliatory strikes in the Gaza strip. Our thoughts are with those caught up in the war and this growing humanitarian tragedy. The attack, and the resulting Israeli response, appears to be much bigger in scale than what has been observed in recent years. At this juncture, the war continues, with Israel focused on dismantling Hamas’ military infrastructure. Also, at this time, it remains unclear if there has been any direct involvement from Iran.
The impact on markets has been broadly limited thus far. Equity markets are flat or slightly lower immediately after the conflict.