David Bulteel

“Equity markets’ continued strength in the face of high oil prices and rising interest rates owes much to a robust corporate profits performance helped by the availability of cheap finance. Equities remain attractive relative to bonds, but less so than four months ago. A period of consolidation is possible after such a broadly based rise. Concern also remains whether a smooth rebalancing of global growth can be achieved, which allows a slowdown in US consumer spending to be compensated by faster growth elsewhere.”