Financial markets saw another good week with world equity indices gaining around 3%. After three consecutive monthly declines, November is well on its way to arresting this weakness. The technology dominated NASDAQ index is up more than 11% for the month, while Japan traded at a 33-year high on Monday.
The latest monthly US inflation data came in weaker than expected, which gave equity markets a good fillip as investors bet it will persuade the Federal Reserve to refrain from raising US interest rates any higher. Money market futures are now pricing in the Fed’s next move as a rate cut, as early as spring 2024, but may be misplaced as central banks keep telling us that interest rates will stay higher for longer.
It is worth remembering that current core US and UK inflation rates are respectively two and nearly three times the 2% target level, reinforcing the view that central banks will be cautious when it comes to making the first cut.
TEAM plc (LON:TEAM) is building a new wealth, asset management and complementary financial services group. With a focus on the UK, Crown Dependencies and International Finance Centres, the strategy is to build local businesses of scale around TEAM’s core skill of providing investment management services.
