Quarterly Outlook
Equity outlook: The high cost of global fragmentation for US portfolios
Charu Chanana
Chief Investment Strategist
Singapore Sales Trader
Disappointing inflation data from New Zealand have pushed the country’s central bank to join the global dovish chorus. The latest release came in at 0.1% quarter-on-quarter versus an estimated 0.3% q/q as the kiwi fell by more than a cent versus USD after the print. This translates to a 1.5% year-on-year on an annualised basis, so well short of market expectations. It was also the first miss of the key CPI reading in two quarters. Consequently, the probability of a rate cut soared to more than 50% after the release.