The US Federal Reserve lifted the fed funds target rate at its March meeting and indicated that this would be the first of seven rate increases this year. Although the March increase was widely expected, the number of rate increases signaled by the ‘dot plot’ for the rest of the year seemed to catch investors by surprise, with the 2-year Treasury yield increasing by 11 basis points on the day of the announcements. Despite this, equity investors reacted positively, with the S&P500 gaining 2.2% on the same day…

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