In our March 2026 Quarterly Market Update, we explore what’s been driving markets and the key developments investors are watching closely. With the level of conflict around the world continuing to grow, investors continue to balance an increasingly difficult array of risks against the promising emergence of what could prove to be the biggest technological and productivity advancement, since the invention of the steam engine.
Please note: except where otherwise noted or quoted, the views in this article are those of Perpetual Private’s Investment Research Team.
In spite of a plethora of risks across the investment landscape, markets perhaps galvanised by robust resolutions to recent shocks (such as the COVID pandemic), have remained strong, looking through the near-term volatility and focusing on the positives of the emergence of artificial intelligence.
In this edition of our Quarterly Market Update, we delve into the history of oil shocks via our Special Article, before digging into the Iranian conflict in our Economic Outlook, contemplating its likely progression and what this means for capital markets and economies.
Markets are likely to remain volatile in the months ahead, and being pre-warned, goes a long way to being pre-armed. With disruption comes opportunity, but so too does risk. We hope our report provides a meaningful lens for you to decode the events and developments that will shape the global economy in the months ahead.