Insights

More good news on inflation keeps markets in a positive mood

1 December 2023

This week saw government bonds lead a broad market rally once more. Better news for inflation and a gradual slowdown in economic activity raised hopes that the Federal Reserve may be able to engineer a soft landing, and bond markets are now hoping for rate cuts in the first half of next year. This caps a good month for markets and fixed income and global equities made significant gains. The positivity even extended to out of favour markets like UK equities and emerging markets shrugged off ongoing problems in China to record a post a strong gain. The outlier is commodities as a modest rise in gold has been offset by a significant drop in oil and gas prices.