Archived article

Please note that tax, investment, pension and ISA rules can change and the information and any views contained in this article may now be inaccurate.

We look at how the 39 individual sectors in the FTSE All-Share have moved this year
Thursday 13 Jun 2019 Author: Russ Mould

This column has noted before (11 Apr 2019) the apparent disconnect between what bond markets and equity markets are saying.

The renewed collapse in bond yields would appear to be presaging an economic slowdown or even a recession, yet equity markets seem buoyant as analysts continue to predict an acceleration in earnings growth from the second half of this year onwards, perhaps egged on by corporate management teams who are propagating such a message.

Having just attended a meeting with a highly-respected bond fund manager who noted that he had not been as bearish as he is now since 2008, it may be again worth checking to see just what equity markets are saying and believing.

Some 39 individual sectors make up the FTSE All-Share and the list of the best and worst 10 performers year-to-date is unlikely to shock investors too much.

The predominance of cyclicals such as industrial metals, electricals and electronics and industrial engineering in the top 10 makes sense given what seems to be the optimism that still pervades equity markets.

By the same token the presence of stodgy defensives such as utilities and telecoms plays and tobacco in the bottom 10 makes sense in the context of 2019’s rally in UK (and global) equities this year and therefore may tally with the view that economic and corporate earnings are going to pick up pace in the second half of 2019 and beyond.

It may not be that simple. Nestled among the best performers are beverages and food producers and personal goods, areas better known for being ‘Steady Eddies’ than go-go growth areas while the list of laggards includes travel and leisure, industrial transportation and automobiles and parts, all areas that are economically-sensitive.

Change of gear

The picture from quarter to quarter is also less straightforward than it might seem, once investors take a look at what did best in the first three months of the year and what has done best and worst since.

At the end of March, industrial metals and general retailers were in the vanguard, both cyclicals, while the ‘Tail-End Charlies’ included healthcare and telecoms, all purported defensives or certainly areas seen to lack any exciting growth potential.

Yet a quick look at which sectors have advanced most up the rankings (with one seen as the best and 39 the worst) and those which have fallen the most, on a relative performance basis, may again suggest that confidence in the growth and economic outlook is not all that it seems.

Big gainers include healthcare equipment, personal goods and beverages, who all rose in the rankings by at least nine spots. Losers included mining, the housebuilder-laden household goods grouping, general retailers and also oil equipment, where oil’s latest slide could reflect global growth concerns.

Notable sliders

Two trends that are worthy of note concern industrial transportation and banks. Both are bellwether sectors for the economy and neither is covering themselves in glory.

Nor is this confined to the UK. America’s Dow Jones Industrial Transportation index looks to be running low on gas and banks are sagging globally, even though analysts are now saying that interest rate cuts will be good for them, having spent the past 12 months arguing that hikes to borrowing costs would be helpful for their lending margins.

Both of those views cannot be right but such cross-currents may in fact suggest that bond markets and stock markets are thinking along the same lines after all.

Bond markets are anticipating interest rate cuts from central banks, with extra cheap credit for the banks in Europe and maybe even more quantitative easing down the road if the global economy really does hit the buffers.

Stocks are also responding to the prospect of further monetary stimulus, in the view that a further reduction in returns on cash and yields on bonds (in nominal and real terms) will drive investors toward equities once more.

This view of the world, that can be summarised when it comes to equities in a low-interest-rate world as TINA (There Is No Alternative), has prevailed pretty much since 2009.

But investors might also care to remember that frantic central bank interest rate cuts did not support stock markets during the 2000-2003 and 2007-2009 economic downturns, when growth and corporate earnings disappointed to such a degree that equity valuations simply could not be maintained.

Those clamouring for central bank action should perhaps be careful with regard to precisely what they are wishing for in the coming weeks and months.

‹ Previous2019-06-13Next ›