Quarterly Market Review & Outlook: Q3 2023

After a strong start to the year, equity markets faced some consolidation in the third quarter of 2023. The MSCI World Index (USD) finished the quarter down 3.36% but is still up 11.55% year to date. The quarter saw the return of the ‘good news is bad news’ mindset as positive economic data surprises spurred equity market drawdowns and spiking bond yields as investors feared a stronger economy would result in a reacceleration of inflation and higher for longer interest rates. 

In the US, GDP’s 2.1% growth rate exceeded virtually all start of year expectations and unemployment has stayed historically low. Hiring remains solid, albeit slowing amid signs the labour market is cooling, and US consumers boosted spending during the summer. The surprising resilience of the US economy has also attracted investors fleeing European stocks, for 25 consecutive weeks, as the S&P 500 looks set to outperform the Stoxx Europe 600 for the 8th time in the last 10 years.

Click here to view our Q3 2023 Market Review & Outlook in full, where the team also discuss topics such as equity market trends, the causes behind the push higher in bond yields, Japanese equities, the record selling of Chinese stocks by overseas investors, and behavioural biases in investing during market volatility and economic uncertainty, amongst many other recent market trends and observations.

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