MARKETS TURN NEGATIVE ON FURTHER RATE RISE FEARS August turned into a poor month for both equities and bonds as surging US rate expectations and weaker growth in Europe and China challenged the Goldilocks scenario. Erratic price action was exacerbated by thin summer...

COMMODITIES, BONDS AND EQUITIES LOWER DESPITE TECH ADVANCES It was a month when this year’s acute focus on US Fed interest rate moves shifted to the possibility of a US government debt default as the debt ceiling threatened to be breached in early June. As expected,...

ROBUST US ECONOMY CAUSES RENEWED BOND SELL-OFF Stock markets took fright during February as US economic data came in much hotter than expected. The labour market showed continued strength while both inflation and retail sales were higher than expected. This raised the...

ANNUS HORRIBILIS FOR EQUITIES AND BONDS Stock markets ended 2022 notching up their worst year since 2008. In the US, the S&P 500 fell almost 20% and the Nasdaq ended a full one-third lower while in Europe most indices registered double-digit declines. The large...

UK POLITICS TAKES CENTRE STAGE Markets remained volatile during October and generally in bear market territory. Central banks are still vocally hawkish though a growing number of investors seem optimistic that the pace and extent of rate rises will be less dramatic...

AUGUST STOCK MARKET RECOVERY KNOCKED BY HAWKISH JACKSON HOLE MESSAGING Developed stock markets sank again at the end of August in the wake of the Jackson Hole central bank get together where it became clear that central bankers were still firmly focused on tackling...

INFLATION FEARS LEAD TO RALLY IN EQUITIES AND BONDS Equity and bond markets regained some ground during July after the worst first half year for decades. The graph below demonstrates how turbulent this year has been for the global economy and markets. The latest...

Worst first-half market performance for half a century Stock markets notched up their worst first-half performance since 1970 in the face of fears that tackling sky-high inflation may come at the cost of the global economy’s post-Covid recovery. Recession has become...

MARKETS VOLATILE BUT CHINA STIMULUS LIFTS MOOD It was an exceptionally volatile month for stock markets with the main developed market indices losing substantial ground before experiencing a bear market rally in the closing days of May. A trifecta of factors was...