Wion's monthly global economic health check for September
WION's monthly global economic health check.
Let's look at WION's monthly global economic health check.
Global markets
Oil crashed nearly 9 per cent, with the benchmark Brent crude falling below $72 per barrel as demand concerns outweighed escalating tensions in West Asia.
Gold closed the month at a record high on bets of another large-sized federal reserve rate cut this year. The yellow metal hit new records repeatedly since Fed chair Jerome Powell's speech in Jackson Hole. On the other hand, the dollar lost ground against most of its peers in September.
Bitcoin closed out one of its biggest September rallies on a down note, dropping back below $65,000.However, the top token still gave over 7 per cent returns.
Asia-Pacific stock moves
In Asia-Pacific stock markets, Chinese stocks performed strongly in September, rising over 17 per cent. Fear of missing out (FOMO) sentiment gripped Chinese stock buyers on an ‘epic’ trading day before break. In the second phase of a bull market, China's CSI 300 index has risen the most since 2008.
Australian and Indian stocks saw over two per cent gains. On the other hand, Japan's Nikkei fell nearly two per cent. Tokyo shares dropped after a proponent of Bank of Japan tightening emerged victorious in the ruling party's leadership race.
US stock moves
The rally continued in American stocks, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq hovering near record highs. Canada's stock index, too, rose to end the month 2.8 per cent higher. Only the Brazilian stock index closed out September in the red, with losses of over three per cent.
Europe stock moves
The picture was extremely mixed for the European markets. While the UK FTSE index fell 1.7 per cent, the German DAX rose over two per cent, and the French CAC kept its head above water, with a 0.1 per cent nudge higher. Separately, South Africa's stock index rose nearly over 3 per cent.
Now, let’s look at the global economic outlook.
Asia’s economic outlook
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) gave a big thumbs up to India, once again. The outlook for Japan, though, reversed to negative after pro-monetary policy tightening leader Shigeru Ishiba's surprise victory wrongfooted investors. The prospects for Australia remained negative, and for China, it turned negative because of the deepening real estate crisis despite a stimulus blitz towards the end of the month. Chinese President Xi Jinping warned of obstacles ahead in his first speech after massive stimulus plans.
US economic outlook
In America, the outlook for the US, Canada, Brazil and Argentina was downgraded. For theUS Economy, expectations are now for a soft landing rather than a recession. This comes after the Fed's bazooka rate cut in September and on predictions for one more jumbo-sized easing in November. The economic activity expectations in Canada, Brazil and Argentina were cut.
Europe’s economic outlook
On the other side of the Atlantic, the negative outlook seems to be widespread. The UK and other European economies are predicted to just about avoid a recession, at best. The outlook for African economies was not very different. They were expected to underperform significantly, with most countries looking at a financial crisis.