What worked and what didn’t for investors in 2024, outlook for interest rates and water bills to rise

On the last AJ Bell Money & Markets podcast of 2024, Dan Coatsworth and Danni Hewson discuss what markets are now thinking about the trajectory for interest rate cuts in 2025 after the Federal Reserve’s latest comments. [03:47] In the UK, inflation has been creeping back up and there are warnings of a potential recession as private sector hiring falls at its fastest rate in four years following the Budget. With rates expected to be higher for longer that’s good news for savers. [11:52]  Dan looks back at the winners and losers of 2024 on the market including some names that might come as a surprise. [14:00] There might be big changes ahead in the automotive sector after reports that car giants Honda and Nissan could be considering a merger. Danni considers why this might happen. [20:19] The long running saga of whether Royal Mail owner International Distributions Services would be taken over by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky is now close to the end point, as Dan explains. [24:16] UK households are reeling after the water watchdog gave the go-ahead for bill rises which will average out at an extra £31 a year. [26:06] Jean Roche from the Schroder UK Midcap Fund joins us on the episode of the podcast. She talks through the potential opportunity for those FTSE 250 companies in the new year and why the investment trust’s policy is to ditch mid-caps if they succeed in climbing into the FTSE 100. [33:39]