Tag Archives: inflation
Food Inflation Bites into Income as Commodities March Higher
Inflation continues to impact consumers and policymakers in negative ways. Hedging through broad commodities has proven to buffer portfolio returns, with the S&P GSCI up 5.38% this year. Going into the year, expectations of Fed rate cuts and continued declines in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) pushed inflation concerns aside. Since then, markets have experienced…
- Categories Commodities
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- Commodities
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Measuring Fixed Income Opportunities in Asia with Indices
How are indices helping investors track the continued development of Asian Bond markets? S&P DJI’s Randolf Tantzscher and SSGA’s Kheng Siang Ng discuss how indexing is helping market participants track the evolving fixed income opportunity set across currencies in Asia.
- Categories Fixed Income
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D-FENCE! Investigating Commodity Performance under a Defensive Fed
I love this time of year. August vacations are over, the kids are back in school and football season kicks off in the U.S. The Fed took its August “vacation” at the Jackson Hole Symposium, where Jerome Powell’s remarks singularly focused on price stability. Inflation has come down but “remains too high” and the Fed…
- Categories Commodities
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- Commodities
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A Quick Look at Key USD Indices and Fixed Income ETF Flows This Year
2022 marked a full year of rate hikes, unprecedented since the Global Financial Crisis, which propelled short-term yields upward and in turn ultimately caused the 10-2 spread1 to fall below zero in the second half of 2022, where it has since stayed. Recent market expectations suggest that the end of rate rises is perhaps in…
- Categories Fixed Income
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The S&P GSCI Cooled in April as Inflation Cooled
The S&P GSCI fell 0.8% in April as the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation, Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE), fell slightly on a year-over-year basis to 4.6%. Continued elevated readings of inflation, albeit cooling, led to market expectations that the Fed would hike rates again in May to bring inflation back to its 2% target. Commodities…
- Categories Commodities
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- Commodities
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The “Devil’s Metal” Vanishes, Precious Metals Shine and Energy Dims: Commodities Quarterly Wrap
“Jamie ran on down to the LME, but the devil caught him there, He took Mr. Dimon’s Nickel bags and vanished in the air, Set out running but I’ll take my time, A friend of the devil is a friend of mine” -adaptation of Grateful Dead’s “Friend of the Devil” Just one year after the…
- Categories Commodities
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Commodities Could Not Escape the Sea of Red Seen Across Asset Classes in February
The S&P GSCI, the world’s leading commodities benchmark, could not escape the volatile markets experienced in February, as the index fell 3.83% for the month. Despite recent declines, inflation remained high, which kept the U.S. Fed steadfast in its rate-hiking campaign, and expectations for a possible easing by year-end 2023 were squashed in the latest…
- Categories Commodities
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Commodities Flat in January After Second-Best Yearly Performance in Two Decades
The 24 individual commodities comprising the S&P GSCI finished the first month of 2023 with divergent performance. This echoed the uncertain path forward regarding inflation expectations. Half outperformed, with industrial metals leading the way, while the other half declined, with natural gas tanking, as European countries filled their tanks to their brims. Gold had one…
- Categories Commodities
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Indexing Income: How Are Insurers Diversifying with Dividends?
As insurers face one of the most challenging bond markets in decades, many insurance companies are looking for different ways to generate revenue. S&P DJI’s Raghu Ramachandran and Rupert Watts join State Street Global Advisors’ Ben Woloshin for a closer look at how and why some insurers are implementing indexed-based equity strategies.
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Commodities Outperform for the Second Year in a Row
The market standard commodities benchmark, the S&P GSCI, performed admirably in 2022, rising 26%, outpacing other commodities indices and asset classes, as well as defying higher interest rates and growing fears of a prolonged global economic slowdown, while high inflation provided a solid backdrop for one of the most inflation-sensitive asset classes. Commodities has been…
- Categories Commodities
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