MARKETS COOL AS CENTRAL BANKS REPEAT WARNINGS THAT RATES MAY GO HIGHER THAN EXPECTED
This week a steady drip of data suggests economies are holding up ok, despite the major increase in interest rates specifically designed to make things worse to fight inflation.
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MARKETS RALLY AS THEY SEE THE END OF INTEREST RATE HIKES COMING INTO VIEW
This week the interest rate hikes from the Bank of England, European Central Bank and Federal Reserve came in as expected. The Fed further slowed the pace of its rate increases and raised by 0.25%, while the BoE and ECB increased by 0.5%.
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MARKETS WAIT FOR CLEARER SIGNALS FOR DIRECTION OF ECONOMIC GROWTH AND INTEREST RATES
This week has been very much more of the same with most major markets waiting for something to happen. In the UK, news that inflation has come down a bit is good news but not enough to declare job done for the Bank of England.
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INFLATION SLOWS FURTHER BUT CENTRAL BANKS WILL WANT MORE EVIDENCE BEFORE CHANGING TACK
This week we got new data on inflation, job creation and growth, all of which have been scrutinised intensively to see if there is any sign central banks might be able to start cutting interest rates in the near future.
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2023 BEGINS WITH A SENSE OF DEJA VU AS INFLATION EASES AND THE US FED PROMISES MORE ACTION
This week we have seen the new year begin almost exactly where 2022 left us. There are further indications that inflation may have peaked, while the US Fed has been busy telling markets that they are not taking its willingness to tackle inflation seriously enough.
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Winter Outlook
The end of the quarter saw chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-Budget cause sterling to fluctuate wildly and UK government bonds to plummet.
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CENTRAL BANKS CONTINUE TO TALK TOUGH AS INFLATION SHOWS FIRST SIGNS OF SLOWING
This week the two main drivers of financial markets this year were both in focus: inflation and what central banks are doing about it. Initially there was some good news as inflation in both the US and the UK dropped more than expected.
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US JOB MARKET REMAINS STRONG BUT OTHER ECONOMIC DATA CONTINUES TO WEAKEN
This week we saw markets react to strong jobs data in the US as the good news is bad news narrative continued. The US Fed has been clear that employment and wages are among the indicators it is watching closely.
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MARKETS LOOKING FOR THE POSITIVE AS CHINA HINTS AT EASING COVID RESTRICTIONS
This week the markets have been second-guessing central banks – a favourite pastime but often a costly one. Equities and bonds have risen off the back of some pretty conventional comments by central bankers, as for some reason markets have decided this time they mean something slightly different.
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BOND INVESTORS TURN POSITIVE DUE TO SPECULATION THAT THE US FED MAY BEGIN TO EASE RATE HIKES
This week we have seen markets trying to get ahead of the US Federal Reserve once again. For most of this year government bonds have sold off as investors anticipated aggressive rate hikes from the US Fed and other central banks.
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