In October a rise in bond yields, coupled with a rising US dollar and waning impacts of the Chinese stimulus in September saw growth assets generally fall with bonds also producing negative returns.

In September, the US Federal Reserve cut the US Fed Funds rate by 0.5% to 4.75-5.00%. US inflation appears to be under control with August data revealing US inflation at an annualised rate of 2.5% p.a. much lower than the 9% p.a. peak seen in 2022. US employment whilst resilient has softened, justifying a more accommodative monetary policy stance. The European Central Bank also cut rates in the month by 25bps to 3.50% following on from their previous 25bps cut in June due to falling inflation and slower economic growth.

In early August markets were volatile as almost simultaneously the Bank of Japan hiked interest rates at the same time as US employment data was released showing that payrolls softened. This led to the Japanese currency strengthening versus the US Dollar which in turn saw Japanese equity markets fall by over 20% in a day and US technology stocks sell off as the unwinding of the infamous “carry trade” occurred. However, by month end markets were little changed as fears of a massive unwinding of the carry trade dissipated.

Australian markets were influenced in July by a slight softening in inflation data that saw bond markets go from pricing in a potential rate hike at the next RBA meeting (5th - 6th August) to a potential rate cut by February. This lifted Australian equites to new highs and also saw bond yields fall (prices increase).

In June US inflation for the year to May was released with the annual rate of inflation falling to 3.3% (down from 3.4% the previous month) which is still much higher than the US Federal Reserve’s targeted 2% inflation rate. US bond yields responded favourably to the improved inflation data over the month.

In May US inflation for the year to April was released with the annual rate of inflation falling to 3.4% (down from 3.5% the previous month) which is still much higher than the US Federal Reserve’s targeted 2% inflation rate. Despite the higher inflation print bond yields, or to put it another way, the expected future cash rates fell assisting US equity valuations.

In April equity markets reflected a change to valuations as the likelihood of cash rate cuts in 2024 lessened and investors began to factor in a “higher for longer” interest rate backdrop. Broadly speaking international and Australian equity markets were weaker by around 3% and Australian Real Estate Investment Trusts (AREITs) after rising by 10% in March sold off by 8% in April, reflecting the higher for longer bond rate thematic.

In March equities moved higher and many markets continued making new all-time highs as bond yields fell slightly driven by the further expectation that central bank rate cuts are due to occur in 2024. However, the Bank of England, the European Central Bank and the US Federal Reserve are yet to cut rates after their recent tightening cycles.

When you picture your retirement, are you anxiously tracking your expenses or are you engaging in all the activities that you wanted to, confident that your money won’t run out? Ideally, it’s the latter — but there’s no guarantee things will pan out that way.