Fed expected to lift rates in December amid mixed data: Fidelity analyst

THE Federal Reserve is likely to raise rates in December amid the mixed data on economic growth and wage inflation, a senior analyst at Fidelity Worldwide Investment said at a briefing on Wednesday.

"We think they can afford to wait," said David Buckle, head of quantitative research at Fidelity, noting that the central bank would not want to risk having higher rates "choke off the recovery".

He also pointed to the wide range of expectations from the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) on rates, which could also cause uncertainty around bond yields.

Fidelity expects to be among the top three fund managers in Singapore by 2018, and grow its assets under management (AUM) to US$10 billion, said Mike Nikou, managing director, South-east Asia, at Fidelity. He did not disclose the fund's current AUM in Singapore.

Fidelity is now ranked fifth by market share in Singapore.