Weekly Commentary and Stock Recommendation: 29th April – 3rd May 2024
Global Economy Earlier this week, the Federal Reserve left its key monetary policy rate unchanged, a position held since July 2023, at a ten year plus high of 5.25%-5.50%. This was underpinned by sticky prices, as inflation remained higher than the Fed’s 2% inflation target in March 2024, at 3.5% YoY. Elsewhere, in the EU, […]
Weekly Commentary and Stock Recommendation: 22nd April – 26th April 2024
Global Economy Earlier this week, S&P Global released flash Purchasing Manager Index (PMI) reports for both the UK and US. The headline S&P Global Flash US PMI Composite Output Index dropped to 50.9 points in April 2024 from 52.1 points in March 2024. The S&P Global Flash US Manufacturing PMI, which considers a wide range […]
Weekly Commentary and Stock Recommendation: 2nd April – 5th April 2024
Global Economy Earlier this week, we saw data from China detailing that services activity growth in the country accelerated in March 2024 as new business rose at the fastest pace in three months, a sign outlook was staging an imminent recovery in the world’s second-largest economy. The Caixin/S&P Global services purchasing managers’ index (PMI) rose […]
Weekly Commentary and Stock Recommendation: 18th March – 22nd March 2024
Global Economy Earlier this week, data from the office of National statistics showed the UK Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rose by 3.4% YoY in February 2024, down from 4.0% YoY in January 2024. On a MoM basis, CPI rose by 0.6% in February 2024, compared with a rise of 1.1% MoM in February 2023. Core […]
Weekly Commentary and Stock Recommendation: 4th March – 8th March 2024
Global Economy Earlier this week, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its Employment Situation data. According to the US BLS, total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 275,000 in February 2024, and the unemployment rate increased by 20bps to 3.9%. Job increases took place in the sectors of health care, government, food and beverage […]
Weekly Commentary and Stock Recommendation: 26th February – 1st March 2024
Global Economy Japan’s core consumer inflation decreased for a third consecutive month in January 2024, reaching 2.00% YoY, ahead of market estimates but remaining in line with the central bank’s 2% target, according to Japanese e-Stat earlier this week. The emergence of wage-driven inflation factors outweighing cost-push drivers of prices would further boost anticipation of […]
Weekly Commentary and Stock Recommendation: 9th February – 16th February 2024
Global Economy In January 2024, headline inflation in the US saw a slight uptick, rising by 0.3% month-on-month (MoM), compared to December’s 0.2% MoM increase, as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). However, year-on-year (YoY) inflation experienced a slight decrease, settling at 3.1%, down from December’s 3.4% YoY. The increase in inflation was primarily propelled […]
Weekly Commentary and Stock Recommendation: 29th January – 2nd February 2024
Global Economy In a coordinated stand against inflation, both the UK’s Bank of England (BOE) and the US Federal Reserve (Fed) held their key interest rates steady this week. While economic data showed some positive signs, the central banks emphasized their commitment to taming inflation pressures. The Fed opted to keep its federal funds rate […]
Weekly Commentary: 8th January – 12th January 2024
Global Economy The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) published US December 2023 CPI data earlier this week. The Headline Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 0.3% MoM in December 2023, up from 0.1% MoM in November 2023. In December 2023, the Core Index—which excludes food and energy—rose by 0.3% MoM, remaining constant from November 2023. Several indexes saw […]
Weekly Commentary and Stock Recommendation: 11th December – 15th December 2023
Global Economy Earlier this week, the Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged at the end of its policy meeting. The widely expected decision kept the target range for the federal-funds rate at 5.25-5.50%. The median forecast in Federal Open Market Committee members’ latest Summary of Economic Projections has the federal-funds rate ending 2024 at 4.6%. […]
