Valtrust Thought Series

While the last quarter of 2021 witnessed a new, and  subsequently raging Omicron variant, the biggest threat to the global economy was not covid, but rising inflation. The key drivers for inflation have been (1) Rising energy prices; (2) Global trade supply chain bottlenecks; and (3) Quantitive Easing (QE) alongside low and negative rates. While the last 2 years have witnessed a tremendous accelaration in adoption of technology, they have also resulted in hugely indebted...

What a volatile year this is turning out to be. Investors across the major financial asset classes: fixed income, equities and commodities have their work cut out. On the macro front, a lack of consensus on the nature of inflation i.e. transitionary or structural has participants guessing the timing of (1) pullback of quantitative easing and (2) increase in interest rates. On a micro-level supply chain disruptions which were impacting the availability of raw materials...

Global equities rallied in Q3 buoyed by central bank rate cuts and easing inflationary pressures. Key drivers were interest rate reductions by key central banks including the US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank, stronger-than-anticipated US economic indicators and government stimulus in China.

Global equities remained strong in the second quarter of 2024 driven by the enthusiasm around AI, strong earnings and upward analyst revisions.