High Frequency Monitor: Inflation scare

Research evidence excerpt

High Frequency Monitor: Inflation scare

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High Frequency Monitor

Inflation scare

Global equities moderated on inflation concerns 18 May 2026

Global equity markets fell -0.6% last week as optimism surrounding earnings and the AI Quant Strategy

theme was offset by concerns about rising inflation. Last week, the best performing Global

region was the US (+0.2%) while Emerging Markets lagged (-2.5%). Among global

sectors, Energy (+4.2%) and Tech Hardware (+2.0%) were the best performers, while

Utilities (-3.0%), Materials (-3.0%) and Real Estate (-2.9%) fell the most. The global

earnings cycle remains strong and the Global News Pulse is improving, but an increasing

risk is that rising inflation prompts central banks to raise rates. Nigel Tupper >>

Quant Strategist

Merrill Lynch (Australia)

+61 2 9226 5735Best performing themes: Space, Renewable Energy nigel.tupper@bofa.com

Last week, among the 12 themes we monitor, the best performers were Space (+4.3%)

Amar Vashi >>

and Renewable Energy (+1.5%). In contrast, Nuclear Energy (-7.2%), Gold (-6.8%), and Quant Strategist

Luxury Lifestyle (-5.4%) performed worst. Triple Momentum remains strongest for Gold, Merrill Lynch (Australia) amar.vashi@bofa.com

Rare Earths, and Robotics, and weakest for Luxury Lifestyle and SaaS. Sumuhan Shanmugalingam >>

Triple Momentum: Semis, Energy, Tech Hardware Merrillsumuhan.shanmugalingam@bofa.comLynch (Australia)

By global sector, Triple Momentum remains strongest for Semis, Energy, and Tech

Hardware. Among large and liquid stocks globally (min $20bn market cap and $20mn

ADTV), the Triple Momentum Rank is highest for Bloom Energy, Renesas Electronics,

Samsung SDI, SEMCO, Murata, Shinhan Financial, STMicroelectronics, Intel, and AMD.

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