LONDON/NEW YORK - The unstoppable march of the mega caps, sloth-like central bank pivots, political palpitations aplenty and M&A is back - the first half of 2024 has been another whirlwind in world markets.
Government bonds had been having a tough time anyway. Predictions of a gush of rate cuts have turned out to be just a dribble in a few parts of Europe and emerging markets and certainly not in the United States yet."At the end of last year, the markets expected seven rate cuts and now they are expecting just one or two," Nadege Dufosse, the head of multi-asset at Candriam said. "That has been the big driver and explains the performance.
"Having had quite a lot of turmoil in recent years ... you can't underestimate that calmer political backdrop," she added.The big story in commodities has been cocoa sky-rocketing almost 85% due to shortages which is already its second-biggest annual leap of all time, although certainly is not good news for chocoholics.