Global Market Insights: February 2024

Equities and bonds went their separate ways in February as the former produced strong returns with only a few exceptions. Bond yields outside of China backed up (and therefore prices fell) as the US Consumer Price Index (CPI) number was above expectations and there were signs of economic optimism emerging in the UK and Europe. Such improvements in optimism are generally better for shares than bonds. Indeed, investors are now pushing back the timing of interest rate cuts and also the magnitude.