Emerging Markets

Qatar’s strategy to raise LNG output 84% by 2030 is a bold bet DM demand for energy security – and EM demand for affordable electricity to support economic and population growth – will remain a higher priority than eliminating fossil-fuel consumption over the next 20 years. This will accelerate the development of a global LNG spot market, which will increase demand for LNG tankers.

Amid patchy global growth, the US economy remains resilient. However, tight monetary policy will eventually trigger a recession in the US too. The stock market rally has been very narrow. Stay underweight risk assets.

In this BCA Special Report, we ask what policies investors should expect if Donald Trump wins the 2024 Presidential election. The answer is that a second Trump term would be much less positive for risky assets than the first. While the US will remain democratic and geopolitically preeminent no matter the outcome of the 2024 election, a second term Trump administration would likely oversee large budget deficits, continued wealth inequality, labor shortages, high import prices, and an erosion of checks and balances, possibly including at the Federal Reserve. Trade policy under a second Trump presidency represents the greatest cyclical risk to investors, and the sequencing of policies in general will be important to monitor. An early legislative priority of immigration over tax cuts, alongside the rapid imposition of new tariffs, would be the worst alignment for risky assets.

The odds of a “Minsky Moment” for the Chinese banking sector are low. They, however, will continue facing cyclical and structural headwinds, including a dismal asset quality and profit outlook. Bank stocks remain a value trap. Absolute-return investors should sell rebounds in Chinese bank stocks.

In this week’s report, we release an update to our long-term REER valuation model and expected future returns for major currencies.

Seasonal weather and price variability in the first quarter will dissipate, which will reduce the agita caused by the recent inflation scare. This will increase the Fed’s comfort level in initiating a rate-cutting cycle in June with a 25 bp cut. With inflation well-behaved, real interest rates will move lower and gold prices will move higher. The rate-cutting cycle also will allow the USD to weaken as assets ex-US become more attractive; this will be bullish for gold. Physical demand for gold is expected to remain robust, along with safe-haven and central-bank diversification demand, due to heightened geopolitical uncertainty. We continue to expect gold to trade above $2,200/oz this year.