GTC Trendline – First Quarter 2025
Overview
If the first quarter of 2025 is anything to go by investors would be wise to keep their seatbelts fastened. Markets have kicked off the year with a cocktail of cautious optimism, familiar volatility, and fresh political aftershocks.
Global investors have been watching closely as the world’s largest economy pivots once more — not slowly, but with purpose. Washington is humming with the energy of a leadership eager to make up for lost time, and policies are being rolled out with pace and precision. The result? International markets are shifting, sentiment is recalibrating, and capital is taking note.
Emerging markets, including our own, are navigating the usual external pressures: US interest rate expectations, energy price swings, and the ever-present dollar dynamic. Closer to home, we continue to track the rand’s response to local policy developments, commodity demand, and South Africa’s role in a changing global order.
While some variables remain unpredictable (though within reasonable tolerances), others are coming into sharper focus – and we’ll be unpacking these themes with you over the course of the year.
