The S&P/ASX 200 (ASX: XJO) added 0.5% across the week while US stock markets snapped a seven-week losing streak as all three benchmarks gained more than 6% each across the five days.
Here are my three key investor takeaways from the week.
China begins to turn
The surprise of the week was a strong rally in China’s under-pressure technology companies, with the likes of Tencent, Alibaba and JD.com delivering better than expected earnings results.
Alibaba added 15% in the final session, with the CEO highlighting the impact of the COVID-19 lockdowns by flagging the improving numbers coming through its retail platforms.
Layoffs galore
There are growing signs that the booming labour market in the US is slowing, which combined with a buildup in inventories suggests the outlook for the economy may be weaker than expected.
The likes of Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Instacart, Lyft (NASDAQ: LYFT) and PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL) were among just a few companies to flag significant cuts to their staff levels after dominating employment for the last two years.
New government sworn in
And what a week it was for Australian politics with a surprising, to some, election of a Labor government for the first time in close to a decade.
The story, however, was the falling support for the major parties, with one in three voting independent or for the minor parties.
What was clear, however, was that the populace is increasingly asking for action on climate change, whatever that may look like.