January 2024 Monthly Market Review

An excerpt from our January 2024 Monthly Market Review: 

In their latest policy-setting meetings, the Fed, the ECB, and the Bank of England kept their respective policy rates on hold and sought to dampen market expectations for imminent rate cuts. Their notes of caution reflect a determination to avoid a resurgence in price pressure arising from a premature pivot to easier policies. Although the U.S. equity market was disheartened by the Fed’s cautious tone, and lost ground immediately following the meeting, it ended January with a healthy gain, adding to the strong returns of the fourth quarter of last year. Other advanced economy bourses also rose, albeit much more modestly. Emerging equity markets, in contrast, fell sharply in January dragged down by a further steep decline in Chinese equities. Global sovereign bond and credit markets also lost ground in January. The U.S. dollar rose against most major currencies. Commodity prices spiked, largely reflecting a sharp increase in oil prices induced by intensifying geopolitical concerns.