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While Labour’s first Budget was a surprise in terms of the scale of the fiscal loosening, there remain grounds for cautious optimism about UK equities.

The world is facing a water crisis. Around the globe we either have too little (drought), too much (flooding) or too toxic water.

It’s the economy that matters for US presidential elections and stocks

Political noise is a distraction in any market environment but in an election year the clamour is heightened. So, in February we had one of our holdings, Nat West Bank, reporting its biggest annual profit since the 2007 financial crisis but in the days that followed seeing its share price fall on speculation of a possible windfall tax on the banking sector. As an investor, sometimes it feels like you can’t win.

Alex Wright, portfolio manager of the Fidelity Special Situations Fund and Fidelity Special Values PLC, shares his outlook for UK equities in 2024. He highlights the unloved areas of the domestic market where he sees potential for recovery and discusses why we could be at the start of a sustained period of outperformance from UK value stocks and sectors.

After a dismal year for markets, William Davies gives his thoughts on risks and opportunities in the market as we head into 2023. While there is plenty to be cautious about, a repeat of 2022 seems unlikely.

There is a lot to ponder as a portfolio manager today. Expansionary fiscal initiatives from the new Chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, have heightened worries about a further widening of the already huge UK current account deficit, Sterling has set a new all-time low against the US dollar and the International Monetary Fund, in a very unusual move, has advised the UK government that its November budget presents an early opportunity to “re-evaluate” the new tax measures.

Markets have performed well since March 2020, but we believe the wide valuation discrepancies that exist between sectors is not justifiable given the breadth of earnings recovery now being seen.