In spite of strong economic data coming out of the US, equity markets sold off sharply during October over concerns of a widespread slowdown in global growth. The prospect of rising interest rates in the US and mounting trade-war tensions between the US, China and Europe weighed on investor sentiment, with the IMF downgrading its […]
Global equity returns were more muted in September than previous months, with developed markets largely flat due to escalating trade tensions and political uncertainty in Europe. Emerging markets were mixed, as declining sentiment towards risky assets weighed on equity returns. Turkey and Argentina were the noticeable outliers, however, offsetting some of last month’s major losses […]
Let’s start with a simple question: What does it mean to build wealth? The fantasy scenario may vary from person to person, but we all share the same minimum expectation: we want our savings to grow over time and outpace inflation. In recent years, many of us have only just managed to achieve this basic […]
Investing in South Africa (SA) has resulted in a fair share of disappointments over the past few years. These days, however, what you don’t invest in has almost become more important than where you have chosen to invest. Few, if any, investment practitioners have been able to dodge Steinhoff, Resilient, MTN and other companies that […]
Trade tensions continued to escalate in August, creating a disparity in equity returns across European and Asian markets (which were broadly negative) and US stocks which continued to rally. Sentiment toward emerging markets and risk assets declined steadily on the back of growing concerns over Turkey and Argentina. The South African rand felt the contagion […]
Despite the escalation in trade tensions in July, improved global sentiment toward emerging markets and risk assets in general helped boost global equities, underpinned by continuing good company earnings reports. The South African rand and bonds benefitted as investors resumed their purchases of SA bonds, with local bonds among the best-performing emerging market government bond […]
‘Stay the course’ is a phrase that has its origins in nautical metaphor and has been popularised by world leaders primarily in the context of war or battle. According to Stewart Alsop’s 1973 memoirs of a conversation with Winston Churchill, the British Prime Minister contemplated towards the end of World War II: “America, it is […]
The positive sentiment around President Cyril Ramaphosa’s election appeared to wane after a spate of weaker-than-expected local economic data. The global “risk-off” sentiment weighed on local markets as investors continued to sell their SA assets, as did disappointing local conditions. A much weaker rand and rising petrol price also raised concerns over higher inflation to […]
In May, financial markets were generally driven by a strengthening dollar, rising global bond yields and increasing concerns over a global trade war, all of which weighed on world equity markets and on emerging markets in particular, including South Africa. A rising oil price also fed the more cautious investor sentiment. In South Africa, most […]
Global equity markets remained volatile in April, as investors continued to be concerned about the prospects of a US-Europe-China trade war following tit-for-tat tariff proposals announced. A rising oil price also renewed worries over accelerating inflation and therefore higher interest rates, which pushed US bond yields higher. Rising yields also supported the US dollar, which […]