Most major benchmarks trimmed their January gains in February as investors reassessed their expectations for interest rates and economic growth on the back of a string of reports that suggested stickier-thanexpected inflation in the US and a resilient global economy. The slower-thanexpected deceleration in US inflation and positive economic data in February dented expectations of a Fed pivot this year. In response, investors are warming up to a regime of higher interest rates for a longer period of time. On the local side, investors had a lot on their plates, including loadshedding, greylisting by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and digesting the president’s State of the Nation Address and the Finance minister’s Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS). We will discuss the details later on in this issue.