The market is showing greater confidence, even in the absence of widespread interest rate cuts. This could make for a more exciting second half of the year, writes Darius McDermott
At the start of 2024, investors were looking forward to an economic soft landing, a slew of interest rate cuts and a revival in stock market performance. It was, by any measure, an optimistic view and the year so far has provided a dose of reality. Perhaps the sharpest reappraisal has happened in the bond market. In January, the expectation was for multiple rate cuts in the US, fuelled by the Federal Reserve's ‘dot plot' in December. This suggested that the fixed income market could look forward to a buoyant year, with high yields, combining with strong capital returns to deliver a comp...
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