Ear to the Ground
Central banks took centre stage this week, with interest being set both in the US and here in the UK. The Federal Reserve were the first to the table, where they increased rates by 0.75%. This was in line with expectations, but some market commentators had touted a full 1% rise, a move adopted by Sweden earlier in the week. This takes US rates to the 3%-3.25% range.
Ear to the Ground
It is difficult to not sound like a broken record at the moment but we are currently within an environment which is very data sensitive, driving which way markets move next, at least in the short term. The case in point was made this week in the US. Inflation had been expected to come in at 8.1% year on year to August, but instead posted a reading of 8.3%…
Ear to the Ground
The latest inflation forecast for the UK from Citi took the market by surprise this week. Updated for a further rally in gas and electricity prices, they believe that a further upside shift in inflation is highly probable and that CPI could peak at over 18% in January. This is some way above the 13.3% predicted by the Bank of England in their latest report.
Ear to the Ground
The US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell took markets by surprise at the Jackson Hole Symposium last week. Many market commentators had been expecting him to deliver something of a pivotal moment. A softer stance on monetary policy tightening, in particular interest rate hikes, was envisaged given the softer economic data coming through and fears of a recession.
Monthly Update 31/08/2022
Monthly Update31 August 2022 The Fund fell by 1.86% during August, behind its performance comparator of cash (as measured by the Bank of England’s Sterling Overnight Index Average (“SONIA”)) + 5% which rose 0.59%. Markets rose throughout most of August as it was expected that central banks, and the Federal Reserve in particular, would be […]
Monthly Update 31/08/2022
Monthly Update31 August 2022 The Fund posted a return of 1.17% for August, outperforming the sector average return of 0.52% due to strong underlying fund performance. It was a difficult month for equity markets in general, with most of the major indices posting negative returns in local currency terms. With economic growth slowing, concerns increased […]
Ear to the Ground
The latest inflation forecast for the UK from Citi took the market by surprise this week. Updated for a further rally in gas and electricity prices, they believe that a further upside shift in inflation is highly probable and that CPI could peak at over 18% in January. This is some way above the 13.3% predicted by the Bank of England in their latest report.
Ear to the Ground
Droughts, blackouts and potentially an inflation top out. With the UK and Europe in the midst of another heatwave we are hearing of more hose pipe bans and of reservoirs drying up. In Europe the shortage has the potential to become the regions next big enemy.
Ear to the Ground
This week was always going to be about the Bank of England and it indeed proved to be the case. The market fully expected that the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) would raise rates by 0.5% to 1.75% and they delivered accordingly. This was the largest increase seen in 27 years. This move was supported by eight of the nine committee members…
Monthly Update 31/07/2022
Monthly Update31 July 2022 After a difficult year to date, UK fixed income enjoyed a stronger July in terms of performance. High inflation remains a concern from central banks globally, including the Bank of England. There was a much anticipated 0.5% hike in the base rate for the beginning of August and this was duly […]
