Monetary Policy and Central Bank Actions
- The FOMC unanimously raised the target federal funds rate by 25 basis points to 3.75%–4.00% on September 16, 2026, framing inflation as persistent (p. 13).
- The ECB raised all three policy rates by 25 basis points on September 10, bringing the deposit rate to 2.50% due to energy fallout from Middle East conflicts (p. 24).
  - Discussions are underway for Christine Lagarde's early-2027 exit, with potential successors including Klaas Knot, Pablo Hernández de Cos, Joachim Nagel, and Nadia Calviño (pp. 24-25).
Global Economic Indicators and Private Credit Stress
- Rising interest rates have pressured the private credit sector, pushing the Private Credit Default Rate to a record 6.3% for the trailing twelve months ended August (p. 21).
  - Many funds are facing redemption requests reaching 10% or higher, exceeding the typical 5% repurchase limit (p. 21).
- China's economic activity remains weak, with new-home sales down 20% Y/Y and car sales down 19% Y/Y (p. 27).
  - The Bloomberg China Economic Survey revised 2026 GDP growth down to 4.6% from 4.8% (p. 31).
- Global manufacturing PMIs diverged in August, with Germany jumping to 54.1 and the Eurozone reaching a four-year high of 52.8 (p. 29).
Precious Metals and Central Bank Gold Reserves
- Central banks are actively managing and relocating gold reserves due to sanction risks following the 2022 freezing of Russian reserves (p. 20, p. 44).
  - The Netherlands repatriated 56 tonnes of gold from the US to London via a location swap (p. 20, p. 43) and physically moved 27 tonnes to Zeist (p. 44).
  - France executed a location swap of 129 tonnes of gold from New York to Europe (p. 44).
  - Venezuela's 31 tonnes of gold reserves remain frozen by the Bank of England due to political non-recognition of President Maduro (p. 44).
- The People's Bank of China reported gold holdings of 2,346 tonnes in June, though historical discrepancies suggest over 3,000 tonnes may be unaccounted for (p. 11, p. 12).
- LBMA vaulted gold holdings rose to 9,632 tonnes and silver rose to 28,431 tonnes as of August (p. 44, p. 52).
PGM Mining Sector Performance
- Northam Platinum saw Headline Earnings per Share (HEPS) jump over 1,000%, but a potential merger with Valterra is expected to be blocked by regulators (p. 45).
- Sibanye-Stillwater reported a basic loss, faced a strike at its Montana operations starting September 3, and plans to close its loss-making Kwezi shaft in South Africa (p. 45).

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