Another great month with excellent performances from offshore portfolios for February! (That makes +20% for the last 4 months!)
PCE (personal Consumer Expenditure), similar to CPI (but more important to the US markets) came in at 2.8% year-on-year and at market expectation. The US Fed has kept interest rates unchanged at their January meeting and have signalled that we will only see rate cuts in June. So, this means a stronger US Dollar for a while, and of course a weaker Rand. However, if the US markets continue to rally.
The ANC is in election mode, but the markets are not fooled by their positive-talk. The Budget Speech, at first came in rather neutral, but on closer inspection, the markets do not like it and the Rand tanked! We analyse some of the highlights in the video. So, with plenty of red-flags around and a poor GDP growth expectation, SA inc. Is struggling, and so will the Rand.
Exciting times ahead as US S&P 500 Index breaks news highs and continues it’s uptrend.
This month we continue with our new format of “Currencies & Markets Update” and we do so again in a video format for better understanding.
For your convenience, we have also attached a pdf format of the slides we use in the video, as well as an Income Tax Booklet.