January’s market action often matters more than simply marking the opening of the calendar year. Institutional positioning resets, testing of economic assumptions, and early price moves reflect how market participants interpret the first meaningful signals of the year. While January rarely determines full-year outcomes, it frequently shapes the narratives markets carry into the first quarter (Q1). Four critical levers: growth, labour, inflation, and policy, can provide an early indication of how markets are processing and prioritising incoming information. January’s first growth test comes from the manufacturing ... (full story)