Three forces collided at the turn of 2015-2016 to make markets extremely anxious. First, the Fed stuck to its promise to start a tightening cycle in 2015, with an in extremis hike in December 2015. The accompanying “dot plot” priced in four more hikes for 2016.

The impending death of the €500 note has huge implications on the conduct and shape of future monetary policy. We believe the upcoming decision to stop printing the bill goes beyond anti-money laundering, which is commonly cited as the reason.

According to Keith Wade, Economist at Schroders, at first glance this would seem to be a soft report; however, other elements were more robust. For example, average hourly earnings growth ticked up to 2.5% year-on-year and the average work week increased by 0.4% month-on-month. The latter is a useful indicator of GDP growth...

According to Nathan Gibbs, Japanese Equities portfolio manager at Schroders, regardless of the actual level of interest rates or details of policy, the main issue around today's Bank of Japan decision is one of inconsistency.

According to Avinash Vazirani, indian stocks have been a bright spot within emerging – and developed – markets in recent months... Avinash Vazirani