Daily Market Commentary 28th November 2023

Equity markets completed four weeks of gains, over the month of November and now look to re-evaluate the current economic and monetary environment. Speculation is rife that the Fed, ECB and Bank of England have finished with rate rises and that inflation is dead and buried. The recession in Europe has killed inflation, but also seriously impacted growth, while the US attempts to stimulate economic growth through fiscal largesse. US Building Permits were lower by 1.8%, while New Home Sales contracted 5.6%, which does not bode well for this leading industry. The US Dollar was static with the EUR trading 1.0930, while the GBP broke back above 1.2600.

Commodity currencies have been staging somewhat of a recovery, in the face of a softer reserve, with the AUD approaching 0.6600, while the NZD trades up towards 0.6100 ahead of the key RBNZ rate decision. Expectations are that the Central Bank will leave rates unchanged, hoping ‘peak inflation’ has been reached and as a welcoming present to the new Coalition Government.