WeeklyWatch – Global markets enjoy a festive uptick, while UK outlook remains gloomy
5th December 2023
Stock Take
’Tis the season to be jolly – and global markets look to have started celebrating early, ending November in an upbeat mood. The MSCI World index registered its best month in three years, climbing nearly 9%. The S&P 500 index similarly represented its seventh best single month of returns in the past 100 years.
Three key beliefs are behind this optimism: 2024 will see a soft landing for leading economies (or, at worst, only mild recession), central banks will make interest rate cuts and these will happen despite inflation remaining above target.
A US Federal Reserve official boosted these hopes by making fresh hints that rate cuts could begin in a matter of months, as long as inflation keeps easing.
On Thursday, the Fed’s favoured inflation gauge – the personal consumption expenditure index – gave further encouragement with the news that it rose 0.2% in October and 3.5% year-on-year, which meets expectations with the smallest rise since early 2021. Together with the news that US consumer spending rose only slightly, there are growing signs of cooling demand as higher borrowing costs and depleted excess savings begin to bite. Weekly jobless claims also provided an indication of a softening job market.
Markets are pricing in a 95% likelihood that the Fed will leave interest rates unchanged later this month.
The fight against inflation remains
European Central Bank (ECB) president Christine Lagarde reaffirmed that the central bank’s fight with inflation wasn’t over at the start of the week, citing persistent strong wage growth and the uncertain outlook.
Consumer sentiment in Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, also remains at a very low level heading into the holiday season, but it did improve slightly after three months of declines. The data followed confirmation that the German economy shrank slightly by 0.1% in the third quarter, as high energy costs, weak global orders and higher interest rates have taken their toll. France also saw its economy contract by 0.1% in the third quarter.
The ECB’s narrative was, however, challenged on Thursday with news that eurozone inflation fell more than expected in November, dropping to 2.4%. Markets have fully priced in a first interest rate cut in April, despite the ECB’s explicit guidance that rates would need to remain steady for several quarters – a reflection of the fact that the central bank’s own projections have a poor track record.
A gloomy picture of the UK
Bank of England (BoE) governor Andrew Bailey commented at the start of the week that the UK economy’s potential to grow was “lower than it has been in much of my working life”. Bailey reiterated his warning that interest rates will not be cut in the foreseeable future and that lowering inflation further will be “hard work”.
Keith Wade, Chief Economist at Schroders, agrees:
“Disinflation up to this point has in large part been due to fading commodity price effects (which may start to reverse in 2024) rather than a significant easing in underlying, core price pressures. The hard yards in getting inflation down are still to come.”
Dave Ramsden, the BoE’s deputy governor, suggested it would be the end of 2025 before it returned to its target of 2%, reaffirming the need to keep monetary policy restrictive for some time to defeat inflation.
The Office for Budget Responsibility has cut its growth outlook to 0.7% in 2024 and 1.4% in 2025 – down from previous forecasts of 1.8% and 2.5%. At the same time, a survey by the Confederation of British Industry showed that UK retailers are a little more optimistic about the outlook in coming months, despite sales continuing to fall in November.
November’s returns may have left investors feeling festive, but Mark Dowding of BlueBay Asset Management, trying not to be too much of a Christmas Grinch, warns that markets may give back some ground before the year is out:
“We are struck by how difficult economic forecasters have found it to predict the trajectory of growth and inflation with any accuracy over the past couple of years. Although a hard landing in the US looks unlikely, who knows how this will look by spring next year. We feel that markets are currently more vulnerable to disappointment if economic data remains relatively upbeat, or if Fed comments fail to deviate much from prior Fed meetings.”
Wealth Check
The cost-of-living crisis has been with us since late 2021. Those with young families, and young people in particular, have had to cut back wherever possible – a quarter of 18–34-year-olds have a smaller rainy-day savings pot as prices rise uncomfortably, according to TSB research.1
Research from TSB also found that over a third of parents are financially supporting their adult children. More than half of these parents said their children wouldn’t be able to cover essential bills without their help.2
It could be another long, cold and dark winter for families and young people. It’s unsurprising therefore that more parents are looking at practical ways to support their adult children with day-to-day expenses.
Gifting money, either as a one-off cash advance or a regular payment to help cover childcare, could make a world of difference to your loved ones. There are several allowances available in the UK that let you give gifts without incurring a tax bill. Gifts aren’t limited to money either; you can gift other assets like jewellery, property, land or stocks and shares among the family. Although in practice you should be aware of the tax implications in doing so because other taxes could apply.
An individual can give £3,000 a year tax-free (£6,000 per couple) with a gift allowance called the annual exemption. You can split this between several people or give it all to the same person. If you don’t use all of your allowance one tax year, you can carry it forward to the next. But you can only roll over your allowance for one year.
The small gift allowance lets you make as many gifts as you want of up to £250 per person, as long as you haven’t used another allowance in favour of the same person. You can also give a tax-free wedding or civil partnership gift – you’re allowed to give up to £5,000 to your child, £2,500 to a grandchild or great-grandchild and £1,000 to anyone else. This is a lovely way to celebrate the big day as well as spread money among the family.
If you’d like to talk to us about using your wealth to help your family, just get in touch.
The levels and bases of taxation, and reliefs from taxation, can change at any time. The value of any tax relief is generally dependent on individual circumstances.
1Parents Risk Their Financial Security as Pressure Increases on the Bank of Mum and Dad, TSB, August 2022 (Based on a survey sample size of 5,812).
2Parents Risk Their Financial Security as Pressure Increases on the Bank of Mum and Dad, TSB, August 2022 (Based on a survey sample size of 2,003).
In The Picture
The dominance of emerging markets from 2000 to 2010 might have led some investors to believe that this trend could last forever. This proved to be a misconceived notion. It underscores the importance of maintaining an unbiased approach to investing.
The Last Word
“I remember the $0.05 hamburger and a $0.40-per-hour minimum wage, so I’ve seen a tremendous amount of inflation in my lifetime. Did it ruin the investment climate? I think not.”
Investment legend and former vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, Charlie Munger, who passed away last week.
The information contained is correct as at the date of the article. The information contained does not constitute investment advice and is not intended to state, indicate or imply that current or past results are indicative of future results or expectations. Where the opinions of third parties are offered, these may not necessarily reflect those of St. James’s Place.
Source: London Stock Exchange Group plc and its group undertakings (collectively, the “LSE Group”). ©LSE Group 2023. FTSE Russell is a trading name of certain of the LSE Group companies.
“FTSE Russell®” is a trademark of the relevant LSE Group companies and is used by any other LSE Group company under license. All rights in the FTSE Russell indexes or data vest in the relevant LSE Group company which owns the index or the data. Neither LSE Group nor its licensors accept any liability for any errors or omissions in the indexes or data and no party may rely on any indexes or data contained in this communication. No further distribution of data from the LSE Group is permitted without the relevant LSE Group company’s express written consent. The LSE Group does not promote, sponsor or endorse the content of this communication.
© S&P Dow Jones LLC 2023; all rights reserved.
Source: MSCI. MSCI makes no express or implied warranties or representations and shall have no liability whatsoever with respect to any MSCI data contained herein. The MSCI data may not be further redistributed or used as a basis for other indices or any securities or financial products. This report is not approved, endorsed, reviewed or produced by MSCI. None of the MSCI data is intended to constitute investment advice or a recommendation to make (or refrain from making) any kind of investment decision and may not be relied on as such.
SJP approved 04/12/2023