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On Wednesday, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) announced that Consumer Price Inflation (CPI) rose by 10.1% in July 2022, up from 9.4% in June. The latest increase in the CPI rate was driven by energy and fuel prices, as well as food prices which rose by a 20-year high rate of 12.7%. The ONS…

US stocks and government bonds rallied sharply on Wednesday after July inflation data came in at 8.5%, lower than the forecasted 8.7% following a sharp decrease in fuel prices. This eased investor concern that the Fed will again raise rates by 0.75% at the next meeting in September. The world’s largest economy posted inflation of…

July played host to the biggest equity market rally since November 2020 (which was when news of a vaccine first broke), as the S&P500 finished the month 9.1% higher. The catalysts this time around, however, were far more subtle. With signs of disinflation beginning to appear, the US Fed striking a more dovish tone in…

It was a positive week for global equity markets. Despite the Federal Reserve increasing interest rates by 0.75%, investors took comfort from the Fed chairman’s comments that they will be guided by the data going forward and the size of future rises might not be as significant from here. Earnings season reached a gallop this…

A positive week for markets as investors digested a raft of corporate earnings and the European Central Bank raised interest rates for the first time in 11 years. The 50 basis point increase brought to an end the controversial policy of negative interest rates. On Wednesday, the Office for National Statistics released the UK inflation…

After a challenging first half of the year, the next six months will have two key factors driving investor sentiment. The first is how inflation behaves and whether we can confidently say in the coming months that it has peaked and is trending down. The second is Q2 and Q3 corporate earnings, along with the…

It was a volatile but broadly positive week for investment markets, as investors digested all the political events in the UK, and we saw tentative supportive buying of the heavily hit technology sector in the US. Like the Black Knight scene from Monty Python’s Holy Grail, Boris Johnson spent the early part of the week…

This week marked the end of the second quarter of the year. Continuing what we saw in the first, for investment markets (both fixed interest and equities) it has certainly been a challenging one. Despite company earnings coming in broadly positive, the constant news flow around climbing inflation and central banks tightening have dented the…

A mixed week for equity markets as the general mood remained downbeat in the face of climbing inflation and with the pace of economic growth slowing. With prices having retraced since the start of the year (particularly in high-growth stocks), the question is: how much are these concerns already in the price? The Office for…