12 January 2020 The prospect that this week the USA and China will sign Phase 1 of a trade deal has buoyed financial markets. Of course, I will assess the impact of the agreement as details emerge. However, initial optimism is warranted if the plan represents the first step towards a comprehensive trade agreement (even [...]
6 August 2019 The US Federal Reserve's recent decision to reduce interest rates a stingy 25bp, and to deliver a less-dovish-than-expected statement raises more questions than it answered. Was the rate cut a one-time adjustment to provide insurance against the prospect of weaker growth ahead? Did Chairman Jerome Powell react to White House pressure? If [...]
12 July 2019 Global equity markets are at (or approaching) all-time highs. What's not to like? In particular, the US market has been buoyed by the Sino-US trade truce achieved at the Tokyo G20 meeting, the prospect of Federal Reserve interest rate cuts, and solid employment gains. Indeed, our year-end 2019 S&P 500 target of [...]
8 June 2019 President Trump's recent decision to hike tariffs on an additional $200 billion of Chinese exports escalated the trade war. The US administration has suggested they will consider levies on a further $300 billion of US imports from its Asian partner following the June G20 meeting. It remains unclear if the imposition of [...]