THE INVESTOR
|
31
The ‘Trump rally’
appeared to float
all boats, although
some sectors
outperformed
Inflation in the UK rose by 1.2%, but the
Bank of England said even above 2% was
acceptable if it helped jobs and growth
Chris Ralph,
Chief Investment Officer, St. James’s Place
QUARTERLY REPORT
The price of a barrel
of Brent crude was
above
$50
5
The FTSE 100
rose
14.4
%
over the course
of 2016
4
Inflation in the UK
rose by
1.2
%
6
Japan and the
eurozone had their
strongest quarter
at the end of the year
9
BY THE END OF 2016
The S&P 500 had its
strongest year
since the global
financial crisis
10
the government’s reform agenda,
precipitating the prime minister’s
resignation.The EU faces a tough
year ahead – the UK is poised to
trigger its exit clause and voters in the
Netherlands, France and Germany go
to the polls.
Nevertheless, the obstinacy of the
recovery in earnings, employment and
the economy in the US, coupled with the
strong performance of stock markets,
suggests that there is much to look
forward to, even as central banks slowly
remove their support.
1 morningstar.com, January 2017; 2, 8, 9, 10 Bloomberg, January 2017; 3 Bureau of Labor Statistics, January 2017; londonstockexchange.com, 4 January 2017;
5 nasdaq.com, December 2016; 6 ons.gov.uk, 13 December 2016; 7 ftse.com, January 2017




