The Takeaway
Receding inflation along with a continued enthusiasm for Artificial Intelligence during the quarter made for a more favorable market environment, with all style indexes closing in positive territory.
Reduction in crude oil prices and an expectation of interest rate cuts caused technology stocks to outperform whilst energy stocks underperformed, propelling growth to do better in all regions but the emerging markets.
In Emerging Markets strong performance from Brazil, India and Mexico was curtailed by continued poor performance in China and Turkey, who both struggle with macroeconomic headwinds.
During the fourth quarter of 2023, all indexes finished on a positive note, with small caps performing particularly well in the US whilst value lagged behind their growth counterparts across the board with expectations of rate cuts nearing and a slowdown in inflation likely being the catalysts for the uptick in performance. The dynamics closely mirrored those in the US overall with value stocks once again underperforming when compared to the growth equivalent in all but the emerging markets.
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