Last week offered some stark reminders that we live in a very global and interconnected world. Given how interwoven our international relationships have become, the current trend toward de-globalization carries with it many consequences — and protectionism could become the biggest economic risk of them all.
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This time last year, the Invesco International and Global Growth team was optimistic about the better relative earnings potential that we saw building in Europe. Indeed, the trends played out to our benefit over the course of 2017.
For the past year, I’ve been talking about disruption as a key theme for the markets and economy. During the past week – with the shutdown of the U.S. government, continued efforts to form a coalition in Germany, and an Olympic agreement coming out of the Korean peninsula – it’s become clear that the theme of disruption remains front and center. Particularly geopolitical disruption.
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Often investors become concerned about duration in a bond portfolio, believing that if interest rates rise, duration will increase the potential for losses.
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The Bank of Canada (BoC) announced today it was raising the target overnight rate by 0.25% to 1.25%. The last time the BoC hiked its target rate was at the September 6 meeting. Market expectations for this rate hike began to increase several weeks ago, so it was almost fully priced into the market.
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In a number of places around the world, it’s an exciting time to be a taxpayer — or tax attorney. That’s because a variety of countries have brought or are bringing tax cuts to fruition.
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Despite the near non-stop drama of the legislative process, we ended December with the U.S. Tax Cut and Jobs Act of 2017 being signed into law. What does this mean for fixed income investors? In my opinion, the news is overwhelmingly positive for the U.S. investment grade market; here are four reasons why.
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Last week saw the release of the latest U.S. employment report, with just 148,000 nonfarm payrolls created in December.1 This was significantly below expectations and the previous month’s reading. However, it may have been a Goldilocks jobs report: It is good enough to stave off any concerns that the economy may be weakening, but it’s not strong enough to suggest that the economy is overheating.
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For income-focused investors, yield remains incredibly elusive in most markets, with roughly 20% of global fixed income assets delivering negative yield. In Europe, that rises to about 40%.
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Last year was a strong one for capital markets. Most countries’ stock markets posted positive returns, with many markets, including the U.S., posting double-digit gains. Globally, and in the U.S., the best-performing sector was technology. Energy was the worst-performing sector globally – and was one of the worst-performing sectors in the U.S.1
Last week saw a confluence of central bank meetings and decisions over the course of two days. They revealed central banks that are in the process of – or on the verge of – tightening. I was reminded of former Federal Reserve (Fed) Chair William McChesney Martin, who said the central task of his job was “to take away the punch bowl just when the party gets going.” But is the party really just getting going – or is it getting long in the tooth? And, most importantly, who is the chaperone? And how strict are they?
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The U.S. Federal Open Market Committee (the Fed) raised the target Fed Funds Rate by 0.25% to a range of 1.25%-1.50% at today’s meeting. This is the third rate hike this year, although the first one since the Fed announced it was reducing the size of its balance sheet at the September meeting.
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Now, for the first time, investors are able to purchase futures on bitcoin, the digital currency. The Chicago Board Options Exchange just began offering derivatives contracts which provide the ability to bet on the future price of this cryptocurrency. The CME Group will also be offering derivatives contracts on bitcoin in the coming week. Investors seem to be excited about this opportunity, sending the price of a single bitcoin thousands of dollars higher in the past several weeks in anticipation of the launch of these futures contracts.
The Federal Open Market Committee (the Fed) is set to convene its final meeting for 2017. It promises to be the event the markets have been waiting for since 2008.
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As we look ahead to 2018, it’s important to first recognize how significant 2017 has been for international markets. This is the eighth year of a global bull market, but prior to 2017, international markets had trailed the U.S. for four consecutive years – and for six of the last seven years.1
Despite what has been an incredibly tumultuous, unpredictable and at times unimaginable period for global politics and an initially spluttering return to global growth, central banks appear to have successfully steered markets through the worst, ironing out the kinks and at times acting together to present a semblance of global harmony. Sometimes, markets have appeared to simply ignore events that in less interesting times would have caused a rout. Somehow though, it still doesn’t feel that the aftermath of the financial crisis is fully behind us, nearly 10 years on, and we believe it is vital to consider both cyclical and structural forces in building our economic and market outlook.
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Drawing support from an improvement in fundamentals at both a macro and corporate level, emerging equity markets significantly outperformed their peers in the developed world in 2017.1 Going forward, we expect this positive environment – favourable economic prospects, a pickup in global trade activity, sluggish inflation and competitive currencies – to provide an attractive landscape in which companies could prosper. With a supportive global macro backdrop, we are confident that companies can build on the generally stronger performances witnessed in 2017 and continue to deliver on the earnings front in 2018.
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When traditional asset classes move in tandem, building a diversified portfolio presents a challenge. Duy Nguyen, Portfolio Manager and CIO, Invesco Global Solutions Development & Implementation Team, explains how he will approach portfolio construction in 2018.
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Europe is a rich, highly developed part of the world which is home to a vast range of companies. However, on occasion it still seems to struggle to attract attention from serious investors around the world. There’s always a handy excuse: “Why bother when it’s only a play on more interesting parts of the world?” or “There’s never any earnings growth, is there?” or “Don’t the politics make it un-investable?” Wrong.
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We approach the new year with confidence that the world’s leading economies will continue to display strength and resilience. The U.S. economy is likely to lead from the front, aided by a gathering upturn in the eurozone and the start of a renewed upswing in global trade. The likely expansion among developed economies should also have a positive impact on the export-oriented, manufacturing economies of East Asia as well as commodity producers in other emerging nations.
