AS THE US Federal Reserve’s rapid rate-hike cycle winds down, how should investors ready themselves for the plot twists ahead?
The Fed raised the Fed funds rate 11 times since March 2022 to combat inflation precipitated by the Russia-Ukraine war. The Fed funds rate is the interest rate charged by depository institutions such as banks, savings and loans and credit unions for overnight loans.
The sequence of 25-basis-point (bp) to 75 bps hikes per consecutive Federal Open Market Committee meeting – an increase of a total of 500 bps over 16 months – has taken the Fed funds rate to the current 5.25 per cent to 5.50 per cent range.
This stands in contrast to the relatively gradual pace of hikes...