US Federal Reserve (The Fed)

The Fed may be more likely to hold than to cut US interest rates, and this shift in stance may help maintain margins.

Underlying US inflation probably cooled only a touch at the close of 2024 against a backdrop of a resilient job market and steadfast economy, supporting the US Federal Reserve’s go-slow approach.

StashAway thinks Trump’s threats of outsized tariffs are a starting point for negotiation with trade partners, and will likely be implemented in a “more targeted manner”.

STI is likely to find support at 3.600 during corrective phase. risk-free rates are likely to trend higher as Nasdaq settles in for a consolidation.

Carmen Lee, head of OCBC Investment Research, expects banking analysts to start revising upwards their full-year earnings forecasts for Singapore’s three banks in January after the holiday season.

The market now expects a rate cut pause in January and just two cuts for the whole of next year, down from almost six cuts forecast in early September.

BNY’s house view for 2025 has changed from 100bps to just two 25bps cuts, “both relatively early in the year — say, March and June”.

Prices — which have rallied more than 30% this year — enjoyed a lift in recent sessions after the People’s Bank of China resumed purchases after a six-month pause.

“We don’t want to be so restrictive that we are hindering sustaining the strength of the economy and the labour market,” says Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams.

Stocks fell on Friday, closing out the worst week in more than two months, as Trump trades lost steam and investors bet the US Federal Reserve will have to slow the pace of policy easing.