Maintaining Balance on Slippery Ground

The phrase ‘all’s well that ends well’ perfectly captures the current climactic twist. A landscape once brimming with anticipation for an early rate cut in the US has seen a dramatic shift. Macroeconomic data, contrary to expectations, painted a different picture. January saw the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rise by 3.1 per cent year-on-year, surpassing the 2.9 per cent economists had anticipated. More alarming was the surge in core CPI (excluding food and energy), which climbed by 0.4 per cent month-on-month and 3.9 per cent year-on-year, marking the highest monthly increase since last May.