June saw further central bank rate hikes to combat rising inflation. Investors, however, have been getting more and more concerned that aggressive rate hikes will choke-off growth. The US raised rates by 0.75%, surprising some market participants, and clearly indicated their desire to hike swiftly to control inflation. The UK only raised their base rate by 0.25%, despite inflation expected to exceed 11% this year. Both equity and fixed income markets fell, equities on the expectations of weaker growth (possibly a recession) and fixed income prices as yields rose to reflect the increase in central bank rates. For the first month, this year commodities fell.

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