While geopolitical risks remain high, at the moment investment sentiment has turned more positive on a potential (if only partial) resolution of the U.S.-China trade disputes. Growth assets have consequently benefited, while the prospect of a pick-up in world growth, and reduced demand for defensive boltholes, have led to sell-offs for bonds and bond proxies.…

Global financial markets have continued to be choppy as investor sentiment has reacted to the twists and turns in US-China trade relations and to the flow of data on the outlook for the global economy.…

Global equities have continued to recover from previous losses, as investors have become less concerned about recession risks and damage to the world economy from U.S-China trade frictions. A consequence has been a global rise in bond yields as investors have felt less need to buy safe-haven assets as insurance against downside risks…

The past few weeks have been dominated by geopolitical uncertainty, particularly the prospect of a US-China trade war and its potential impact on global business activity: Equity markets have whipsawed as trade tensions have risen or receded. The other major development has been further declines in local and global interest rates to even lower levels....

Interest rates have fallen to ever lower levels, benefiting both bonds (through capital gains) and equities (through improved absolute and relative valuation). Most of the impetus has come from central banks trying to get inflation to the levels they would prefer, but some (including in New Zealand) has also been insurance against potential economic slowdown....