MARKET INSIGHTS

Weekly market commentary

15-Sept-2025
  • BlackRock Investment Institute

Staying risk-on as macro tensions ease

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Market take

Weekly video_20250915

Glenn Purves

Global Head of Macro, BlackRock Investment Institute

Opening frame: What’s driving markets? Market take

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We stay risk-on. A softer US labor market gives the Federal Reserve room to cut and eases brewing political tensions from higher interest rates. We think these rate cuts will support US stocks and the AI theme. We also think long-term yields could fall more – even if the pressures driving them up persist – and close our long-standing underweight.

Title slide: Staying risk-on as macro tensions ease

1: An inflation puzzle

Until recently, we saw the economy in an inflation puzzle. Headline inflation had declined even as US tariffs pushed up on goods inflation. At first, we attributed that to surprisingly weak services inflation – surprising, because the labor market otherwise seemed strong.

But job gains have stalled. That suggests that this cooling services inflation is ongoing – which gives the Fed room to cut.

But we stay watchful. It’s unclear why the labor market is soft. And rate cuts could spark hiring again while inflation is still sticky. That would reignite political tensions between inflation and debt servicing costs and lead us to take a more cautious risk stance.

2: Staying risk-on: then vs. now

April’s policy-driven volatility hit global markets – but US stocks are among the best-performing markets since then, with the AI theme driving much of that performance.

The lesson? Immutable economic laws limit rapid policy change. This framing allowed us to re-up risk shortly after the April 2 tariff announcements. We stick with our risk-on stance and the AI theme, even as the market backdrop has changed. Instead of tariffs and policy uncertainty, the drivers are now tensions between inflation, growth and government debt.

3: Mapping multiple scenarios

We prepare for a few, very different near-term macro scenarios.

Our base case: Fed rate cuts boost equities and support long-term bonds. We now close our long-term underweight in long-term US Treasuries to go neutral. We flip neutral on short-term Treasuries from overweight.

Another possibility: the labor market weakens more and Fed rate cuts can’t offset the pressure on risk assets. In this case, we’d be ready to take a more cautious risk stance.

On the flip side, another possibility: a hiring rebound stokes inflation and the spotlight on Fed independence returns. Investors would likely demand more compensation for the risk of holding long-term bonds.

Outro: Here’s our Market take

A softer labor market and slowing growth pave the way for the Fed to cut rates. We think this will benefit US stocks and stay overweight. We close our long-term US Treasuries underweight, but think pressures pushing yields up could persist.

Closing frame: Read details: blackrock.com/weekly-commentary

Risk-on amid rate cuts

We stay risk-on heading into Fed rate cuts as growth slows but holds up and corporate earnings remain solid. We up long-term US Treasuries to neutral.

Market backdrop

US stocks surged to new all-time highs on the AI theme. US bond yields dipped to five-month lows. The US CPI showed core inflation is proving sticky.

Week ahead

We look for a widely expected Federal Reserve rate cut this week amid a murky macro backdrop. We also watch central bank meetings in Japan and the UK.

We stay risk-on as the Federal Reserve likely resumes cutting policy rates next week. A softening labor market gives the Fed space to cut, helping ease brewing political tensions from higher interest rates. We think rate cuts amid a notable slowing of activity without recession should support US stocks and the AI theme. We turn neutral long-term US bonds: yields could fall further near term even if the structural pressures driving them up, including loose fiscal policy globally, persist.

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Inflation puzzle

US core services and wage inflation, 2018-2025

The chart shows US core services and wage inflation from 2018 to 2025. Core services inflation has declined, giving the Federal Reserve room to cut interest rates.

Source: BlackRock Investment Institute, US Bureau of Labor Statistics, and US Bureau of Economic Analysis, with data from Haver Analytics, September 2025. Note: The chart shows the three-month average change in US average hourly earnings the core services PCE price index excluding housing on an annualised basis.

We stay risk-on as a much softer US labor market should ease inflation pressures and give the Fed justification to resume easing policy. Until recently, we saw sticky inflation as complicating the Fed cutting rates. Inflation has fallen this year even as US tariffs halted a decades-long spell of goods deflation. This was possible due to surprisingly weak services inflation – a puzzle given a strong labor market. Then job gains stalled in recent months, suggesting an ongoing cooling of services inflation. See the chart. We see risks to that view, partly because it’s unclear why the labor market is soft. We may be in an unusual “no hiring, no firing” state: Fed rate cuts could boost confidence and spark hiring again just as inflation is still far above the Fed’s target. This could reignite political tensions between inflation and debt servicing costs – leading to a steeper US yield curve and more cautious risk stance.

We stay risk-on as we have been since the policy-driven volatility in April. US equities are among the best-performing markets since then: US stocks are up 31% since April 8 versus 24% for overall developed markets, according to LSEG data. The lesson? Immutable economic laws – supply chains can’t be rewired overnight without major disruption – limit rapid policy change. This framing allowed us to lean against markets extrapolating big calls – and quickly deploy risk. Yet the market environment has changed a lot. The drivers have shifted from tariffs and policy uncertainty – which sparked questions about the appeal and haven status of US assets – to the tensions between inflation, growth and government debt.

AI theme still leading the way

We stick with the AI theme. The AI theme keeps driving US equity performance, with the tech sector accounting for over 40% of total return and a similar share of earnings growth, LSEG data show. We think this can persist. Yes, these companies are generating less free cash flow, but only modestly. We think elevated valuations can be justified if they keep delivering on expected 15% to 20% future earnings growth. Their credit spreads – a sign of balance sheet health – have also held steady near historic lows but we watch them as a potential warning sign of market concerns.

We need to be ready for a few very different macro scenarios in coming months. Our base case: A soft labor market allows the Fed to cut rates, a positive for equities. This could spark broader equity gains and support long-term bonds. On a six- to 12-month tactical horizon, we go neutral long-term US Treasuries after having long been underweight. We also flip neutral on short-term Treasuries from overweight. Yet if the labor market were to weaken much more, Fed rate cuts won’t be enough to offset the pressure on risk assets, in our view – and we would be ready to reduce risk. On the flip side, a hiring rebound could stoke inflation pressures and put the spotlight on Fed independence again, prompting investors to seek more compensation for the risk of holding long-term bonds. We prefer real, or inflation adjusted, yields to lock in income. On a strategic horizon, we stay underweight long-term government bonds and prefer inflation-linked bonds. We stand ready to pivot in all scenarios.

Our bottom line

A softer labor market and slowing growth pave the way for the Fed to cut rates. We think this will benefit US stocks and stay overweight. We close our long-term US Treasuries underweight but see pressures for higher yields staying.

Market backdrop

US pushed to new record highs, with the S&P 500 rising about 2% on the week to take its gains for the year to 12%. Tech stocks outperformed on the AI theme, with shares of Oracle surging on major cloud demand from AI customers. Ten-year US Treasury yields were mostly steady near 4.00% but dipped to a five-month low. The US CPI data for August showed core inflation is proving sticky even as the Fed readies to resume rate cuts this week given a softening jobs market and economy.

The Fed is poised to resume cutting interest rates this week. A softer labor market gives the Fed room to cut without raising questions about its independence. Yet core inflation remains sticky, and we see this moment as an important fork in the road for the macro outlook depending on labor market developments. Both the Bank of Japan and Bank of England are expected to keep policy rates on hold next week.

Week ahead

The chart shows that gold is the best performing asset year-to-date among a selected group of assets, while the US dollar index is the worst.

Past performance is not a reliable indicator of current or future results. Indexes are unmanaged and do not account for fees. It is not possible to invest directly in an index. Sources: BlackRock Investment Institute, with data from LSEG Datastream as of September 11, 2025. Notes: The two ends of the bars show the lowest and highest returns at any point year to date, and the dots represent current year-to-date returns. Emerging market (EM), high yield and global corporate investment grade (IG) returns are denominated in US dollars, and the rest in local currencies. Indexes or prices used are: spot Brent crude, ICE US Dollar Index (DXY), spot gold, spot bitcoin, MSCI Emerging Markets Index, MSCI Europe Index, LSEG Datastream 10-year benchmark government bond index (US, Germany and Italy), Bloomberg Global High Yield Index, J.P. Morgan EMBI Index, Bloomberg Global Corporate Index and MSCI USA Index.

Sep. 17

Federal Reserve policy meeting

Sep. 18

Bank of England policy meeting

Sep. 19

Bank of Japan policy meeting
Japan CPI

Read our past weekly commentaries here.

Meet the authors

Jean Boivin
Head – BlackRock Investment Institute
Wei Li
Global Chief Investment Strategist – BlackRock Investment Institute
Glenn Purves
Global Head of Macro – BlackRock Investment Institute
Vivek Paul
Global Head of Portfolio Research – BlackRock Investment Institute

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