Equities quickly bounce back
It didn’t take long for investors to buy the dip, with equity markets back in the green on Thursday following a two day pause which appeared to be nothing more than soft profit taking.
The rebound even follows a brief dip in US futures overnight, which came very suddenly and appeared to be triggered by very little, but those losses were gradually recouped over the following hours. The US inflation data on Wednesday didn’t do the markets any harm, with the slight dip only adding to the case for rate cuts this year, although it wasn’t quite significant enough to dramatically alter people’s views.
The odds have slightly moved in favour of a third rate hike by the end of the year – although no hike this month – but this has been something of a coin toss for a while with the pendulum swinging back and forth between two and three. Ultimately, the meeting – assuming it takes place – between Trump and Xi later this month will highly influence how aggressive the Fed will be, which is probably largely why the central bank is expected to hold this month.
