The Bank of Japan was the only central bank in the world applying a negative interest rate within its economy but new monetary policy decisions have shifted this. Matt Henderson, Portfolio Manager, discusses some the changes to the Bank of Japan’s

Indications of broadening wage based inflation could result in the Bank of Japan exiting negative interest rate policy for the first time in over 8 years. Kevin Kidney, Head of Asset Allocation, takes a look at the potential changes in Japan, the upcoming UK CPI print and whether we will continue to see a cooling of inflation pressures and the revised market expectations of interest rate cuts.

With challenges for UK growth in contrast to a strengthening US economy, Kevin Kidney and Paul Durrans explain factors such as the UK private sector employment data, how it feeds into the GDP print released this week and how that reflects the stark contrast. We also get the equity market reaction to these developments with the expectations of falling interest rates.

Recently, we've seen Impressive equity market performance across regions - but what is driving them? Kevin Kidney, Head of Asset Allocation, discusses the different factors influencing equity markets and highlights the fundamental change in Japan's corporate attitudes towards shareholders as well as the Eurostoxx 50 outperforming the US.

Can the UK hit the office for budget responsibilities targets with the current growth impulse and employment trends? Kevin Kidney, Head of Asset Allocation, discusses whether the UK economy can grow with low private sector job growth. Also, the latest US CPI data also presents a challenge to the global 'disinflation' narrative.

The latest UK employment report shows some softness with a further moderation in wage growth while the unemployment rate unexpectedly increased. Paul Durrans, Investment Director discusses what this may mean for the Bank of England and the prospect of interest rate cuts.

Central banks are monitoring price inflation before looking to change monetary policy. Matt Henderson, Portfolio manager, discusses how inflation data could influence the US interest rates and how the UK’s fourth quarter GDP and unemployment report may influence the Bank of England’s upcoming interest rate decision in the coming week.

Our expert Investment Management team review: Jerome Powell’s recent testimony, suggesting that we are not far from seeing interest rate cuts. With commentary on the US economy exceeding market expectations for employment, how could interest rate cuts by the European Central Bank and the US Federal Reserve affect your investments?

With 5 months of consecutive increases in the Halifax house price index, the data suggests relative stability in the housing sector. Chris Leyland, Director of Investment Strategy, discusses the Halifax UK house price data, falling mortgage rates and the expectation of interest rate cuts in the UK.

With expectations for inflation to decline and growth to climb across major Western economies, market volatility has fallen as a result. Kevin Kidney, Investment Director, talks through how improving market stability and the fall in the correlations between equity and bond prices has enabled multi-asset portfolios to perform well.