Mike Bell, head of market strategy at RBC BlueBay Asset Management, said in a
report that November’s US midterm elections are unlikely to be a primary market
driver and may only increase political noise. He flagged AI-related trading,
spillovers from US foreign policy, resulting inflationary pressure and the Fed’s
policy response as the principal market drivers, and said these are unlikely to
be materially altered by the midterms. Bell added that US labor-market and
inflation trajectories merit greater attention: labor appears to be stabilizing
at low unemployment, while rising food and energy costs pose upside inflation
risk.
