ECONOMIC AND MARKET OVERVIEW
SEPTEMBER IN REVIEW
Central banks around the world continued to push their official rates higher in an attempt to curb inflation. The US Federal Reserve added 0.75% to the Fed Funds rate while the European Central Bank and the South African Reserve Bank also increased their rates with the same margin. The Bank of England added 0.5% to their official interest rate but the Bank of Japan bucked the trend by keeping their rates unchanged after their meeting in September.
August’s inflation number in the United States came in at 8.3%, well above the expectation of 8.0% and thus solidifying fears that inflation will continue to remain high. This has seen the S&P 500 plunging to its worst sell off since June 2020. Even though the price of energy fell, prices of most other items in the consumers basket, including essentials like food, rent and medical care, are still rapidly rising.
