Weekly Market Updates
As we conclude last week’s Jackson Hole Symposium, one key takeaway was US Federal Reserve’s (Fed) Chairman Jerome Powell stance on interest rate. The view remains that interest rate hikes are still in play given that inflation remains stubbornly in play.
Markets took a revered stance with NASDAQ, dropping 2% in a single session on the first day of the symposium as investors started offloading risky growth assets given the possibility of a deferred interest rate cut.
On the other hand, the majority of the US bourses still managed to close in the green by the end of the week. European stocks inched higher as well given the momentum boost from US stocks.
Main Index & P/E Ratio-3 years
Asian stocks, on the other hand, continued its gloomy outlook. Investors did not react optimistically even as Chinese authorities stepped in to support the real estate sector, easing rules for first-time home buyers in an effort to bolster the market.
Investors are still expecting more aggressive policy support akin to the ones seen back during the Global Financial Crisis and only until this has been observed will markets rebound given the current hesitance and avoidance of most investors in redirecting their funds back into Chinese risk assets.
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