The equity market rebounded in September following a weak start to the month. Emerging markets posted the strongest performance, particularly the Chinese markets which rose sharply after China announced interest rate cuts and stimulus measures. Performance in the Swedish equity market was also positive, with real estate investments posting strength. In contrast, the other Nordic stock markets posted negative performance, largely due to the weak performance of Danish Novo Nordisk during the month.
The US central bank lowered its rate by 0.5% to stimulate growth in the domestic economy. As expected, the Swedish Riksbank lowered the repo rate by 0.25% and the market is expecting at least two additional cuts during the year. Both the US and the Swedish central banks believe that the risk for inflation is under control, which opens the door for several rate cuts.
We are maintaining our positive outlook on risk assets and expect the inflation rate to continue to decline and that economic growth will gain momentum. In this climate we also expect to see higher corporate earnings. As a result, we believe there are good conditions for a further rise in the equity markets and therefore remain overweight in equities relative to fixed income investments. We see the strongest potential in high-quality companies, small caps, digitalization, healthcare and real estate.