No sting in September, but October awaits

SEPTEMBER, where is thy sting? Statistically, the month records major retreat in US markets. It is just one of the three months that on average delivers negative returns and has by far the largest fall.

However, despite a range of negative developments, including an acceleration of the war in Gaza and the opening of new war front in Lebanon, the markets seemed immune to the so-called September curse.

The antidote to the September sting was the US interest rate cut. Justified or not, it spurred markets into a resumption of the uptrend. Even the Chinese market got excited, surging more than 10 per cent in response to the People’s Bank of China’s rate cut and delivering a severe sting to China shorts.