Signals Align for a Growth Cycle

A rare alignment of global cyclical indicators suggests a strengthening economic backdrop for 2026, supporting a positive outlook for equities and bond yields. Copper prices have surged 40% over the past year, while a non-traded industrial commodity index tracking materials like glass and tin rose 10%, signaling robust demand less influenced by speculative trading. Further evidence of this cyclical momentum appears in the 80% gain of Korean equities—a traditional proxy for global optimism—and the significant outperformance of economically sensitive sectors like small-cap stocks and financial institutions in the U.S. and Europe. These converging signals reinforce the thesis that corporate earnings growth may exceed expectations, though continued strength in these indicators could eventually challenge central bank trajectories regarding the necessity of further interest rate cuts. This synchronized movement across diverse asset classes suggests the current market cycle possesses more fundamental durability than valuation concerns might otherwise imply.