B2B Central

Federal Reserve

30 Mar 2022

The relentless March of rates

By Staff Writer

Old Mutual Wealth Investment Strategist Izak Odendaal discusses the upward march of Interest rates, with 23 central banks across the globe having raised rates so far in March, notably including the US Federal Reserve and the South African Reserve Bank.
25 Mar 2022

Citadel Global Weekly Wrap: Oil Continues To See-Saw

By Staff Writer

Bianca Botes, Director Citadel Global, unpacks what the global markets have been up to and what Citadel Global is keeping tabs on.

16 Nov 2021

BlackRock’s Weekly Market Commentary: Inflation at heart of our Outlook Forum

By Staff Writer

BlackRock sees price pressures to persist in 2022, mostly driven by the unusual restart dynamics. Eventually, they see a higher inflation regime than pre-Covid.
28 Sep 2021

BlackRock's Weekly Market Commentary: Why we stay pro-risk

By Staff Writer

Markets have been jittery amid focus on China’s regulatory clampdown and the prospect of the Federal Reserve tapering its asset purchases. We believe the path for further gains in risk assets has narrowed after an extended run higher, warranting a selective approach, but we reaffirm our tactical pro-risk stance. In the context of very small client allocations to Chinese assets, we are dipping our toes in the asset class by shifting our view to a modest overweight.
28 Sep 2021

Central bank policymaking in the age of Covid-19

By Staff Writer

Central bank policymaking in the age of Covid was initially straightforward. Central banks acted in unison to cut rates, and many also injected substantial amounts of liquidity into their financial systems. The world saw synchronised easing in response to an unprecedented crisis.
31 Aug 2021

When will things return to normal?

By Staff Writer

When will things return to normal? This is the question we’re all asking. Interestingly, the author Jonathan Moodley points out that the term ‘normal’ entered the English language as recently as the mid-1840s, even though it “masquerades as an ever-present universal truth”.

03 Aug 2021

Risk - What investors need to know

By Staff Writer

Risk comes in many forms. In the investment industry “risk” is often used as shorthand for “volatility”, as in the risk/return scatterplots that are a staple of fund performance presentations.
30 Jun 2021

Global stocks: Will the bull market continue?

By Staff Writer

After an impressive first half, the current bull run in stock markets is likely to continue for the second half of 2021 – but there are also headwinds on the horizon. This bullish message from Nigel Green, the chief executive and founder of deVere Group comes as analysts watch to see if the MSCI AC World Index’s gains of around 12% hold through 30 June, they would be beaten only by a 15% rise in 2019.
22 Jun 2021

BlackRock's Weekly Market Commentary: Fed catches up with restart reality

By Staff Writer

The Fed surprised markets by embracing higher inflation and heralding a lift-off from zero rates in 2023, rather than 2024. We think this could add to its new framework’s credibility as long as last week’s fall in inflation expectations does not persist. Ultimately, the Fed’s outlook implies a more muted response to rising inflation than in the past. This and the economic restart keep us pro-risk.
08 Jun 2021

BlackRock's Weekly Market Commentary: ECB - Keeping up the pace

By Staff Writer

We expect the ECB to maintain its current pace of asset purchases even as the economic restart gains traction. We wouldn’t view a decision to slow purchases as a hawkish policy signal, as the ECB is focused on keeping financing conditions easy. This, and a Federal Reserve that we see keeping policy easy, provides a positive backdrop for risk assets including European equities, in our view.
02 Jun 2021

BlackRock's Weekly Market Commentary: Policy revolution’s long reach

By Staff Writer

The powerful policy revolution implies a lower future path of interest rates than markets are pricing in, even amid rising inflation over the medium term, as captured in our new nominal investment theme. Lower rates – even compared to our previous expectations – lift our expected returns across asset classes over the strategic horizon, and reinforce our preference for equities over bonds.
17 May 2021

BlackRock's Weekly Market Commentary: Don’t be surprised by surprising data

By Staff Writer

Hotter inflation has materialized and market volatility is rising as the economic restart gathers pace. This is playing out in line with our view that the economy is in a “restart” – not a traditional recovery. We prefer to look through any volatility and see a later “lift-off” from zero rates than markets expect.