November Review
The Fed’s October minutes struck a firmer, more hawkish note, dampening hopes of a December rate cut and fuelling the renewed “AI bubble” debate that weighed on sentiment early in the month, especially in the technology sector. Momentum improved towards month-end. Markets stabilised as investors responded to softer remarks from several Fed officials, the reopening of the US government, early signals of potential progress in Ukraine, and increasing speculation that Kevin Hassett is a frontrunner for the next Fed Chair, a prospect viewed as broadly dovish by the markets.
Looking to EM, credit markets rose +0.25% in corporates and +0.41% in sovereigns, with spreads widening by 11bps for corporates and 7bps for sovereigns. Within corporates, the Transport, TMT and Financials sectors outperformed, while Real Estate, Pulp & Paper and Industrials were the main laggards. In sovereigns, Africa and Europe were the top-performing regions. Local markets also delivered positive returns, with the index up by +1.35% for the month. This was driven by strong performance in both FX and Rates, which returned +0.78% and +0.56% respectively. At the country level, South Africa, Dominican Republic, Turkey and Chile contributed to the positive strength. However, Indonesia detracted from returns over the period.
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