Even in this leap year February flew by and here are some fast facts for the month

For some January felt like it lasted a lifetime, but February (even with the extra day this year!) flew by and markets responded positively.

European and US equities, in particular, performed well and UK large caps were also marginally up over the course of the month.

With earnings season done and dusted, broadly speaking it was a little bit better than expected – especially the results from US chip designer, Nvidia, who shattered the stock market record by adding over $230 BILLION in value in one day!

To put that in perspective, that one day rise is over 1.5 times the market cap of oil major, Shell – the largest member of the FTSE 100. The mind boggles!

For the romantics, February sees the return of Valentine’s Day and (for the cynics) overpriced food, in overfilled restaurants – so the debate around the direction of travel for inflation remains.

That being said, even the European Central Bank seem to be feeling the love with an incredibly cringey poem, posted on X:

Roses are red
Violets are blue
We’re nearing our target
And we will reach 2

Apologies…