What does November’s rally tell us about bonds and rates?

The month of November no doubt brought a fair amount of relief to investors who had been, up to that point, operating under a huge cloud of uncertainty. News that inflation had eased more than expected in October strengthened the case for a pause in interest-rate hikes and sparked a rally in the stock market. While the shift in investor sentiment is encouraging, is it likely to last? Podcast host John P. Bryson, head of investment consulting and education savings at John Hancock Investment Management, posed that question to Emily Roland and Matt Miskin, co-chief investment strategists at John Hancock Investment Management. He also asked them if the recent pullback in inflationary pressures had laid the foundation for rate cuts next year and how advisors should be approaching portfolio positioning in the current environment.