Richard Schellbach News Today

The investment giant is betting on a comeback in real estate and retail stocks amid a more stable interest rate environment to help push the S&P/ASX 200 Index to eye-popping territory.

The ASX is trading at all-time high, yet investment banks are warning investors may get ahead of themselves this reporting season.

A late 2023 rally helped lift the sharemarket on optimism about commodity prices and the path of interest rates. Strategists agree records may tumble, but at the expense of higher volatility.

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By ending the year with rates on hold, the RBA sets up a puzzle for local investors in 2024: a prolonged pause or earlier-than-expected cuts? 

Surging immigration is putting huge strains on housing and infrastructure. But for investors in the local sharemarket, strong population growth could deliver a double benefit.  

Slowing down of economy is mitigated by buying up insurers

Worried about the fallout from higher interest rates, investors including Airlie, Paradice and Ophir are favouring insurers over the big four banks.

Simon Doyle, head of Schroders Australia, says the central bank will have to keep lifting rates to get inflation under control.

It’s too early to cycle into cyclical and interest rate-sensitive stocks as the yields on US Treasury bonds keep rising.