August to September has been a tug-of-war for equities (^DJI, ^IXIC, ^GSPC) to hold onto any stock gains as seasonal volatility (^VIX) wreaks havoc. To talk about where and how investors should be positioning their portfolio amid uncertainty, Conning CIO North America Cindy Beaulieu joins Brad Smith on Wealth!
Uncertainty around the Federal Reserve’s interest rate cuts “is a big question as well, and so what we have seen is a fair amount of volatility seeping back into markets again,” Beaulieu tells Yahoo Finance, adding: “For the [US 2024] elections themselves, they are weighing on equity markets. There are a lot of questions about the policies and plans coming from either side of the aisle. And so as long as we continue to have that, we anticipate that there will be a decent amount of equity market volatility right up until the day of the election.”
Beaulieu notes it may be best for investors to remain neutral and “sit tight and look for those opportunities to buy dips.” She notes new opportunities presented in bank stocks and the financial sector’s (XLF) response to the Fed’s Basel III Endgame proposals.
Regarding the outlook around the Fed’s rate-cutting cycle and how much the central bank is initially expected to cut by, Beaulieu believes “ultimately, it should be the terminal rate. But this Fed has gotten everyone laser focused on data and data drives that decision for that September 18 vote.”
For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Wealth!
This post was written by Luke Carberry Mogan.
