GS Blekos Marketcolour FOMC Sunbelt Up HF Colour

GS Blekos - Marketcolour FOMC Sunbelt Up HF Colour 17 Sep 2026 Ioannis Blekos · Goldman Sachs · FICC & Equities Thu 17 Sep 2026, 2:25am ET

Good Morning, US equities ended Wednesday lower post FOMC: SPX -45bps to 7551 (8/11 sectors -ve, Energy -2.97%, Financials -1.62%), NDX +3bps to 28,94

US equities ended Wednesday lower post FOMC: SPX -45bps to 7551 (8/11 sectors -ve, Energy -2.97%, Financials -1.62%), NDX +3bps to 28,945, RTY -40bps to 2858. Tech +0.10%, The GS High Beta TMT Momentum Basket (GSTMTMOM) +398bps and Healthcare +0.04% were notable outperformers. In Europe, Utilities (SX6P +1.7%) topped the leaderboard, benefiting from the bond yield pullback, while Miners (GSXEMINE +80bps) also performed well on rising metal prices. Banks (SX7E +40bps) rebounded after two consecutive sessions of declines.

Interesting: we just finished our European Communacopia Conf - pls let me know if you want to speak to Andrew Lee / Adam Berlin / James Tate / Mo Moawalla...

FOMC: hiked by 0.25pp to 3.75-4.00%, the first hike since July 2023. There were no dissents from the Committee’s decision. We now expect 1x hike in October. Much more hawkish set of dots, with the plot showing one additional rate hike for 2026 and no cut next year. The statement noted that inflation “remains elevated” and that “today’s policy action will support a timelier return to the Committee’s 2 percent goal.” Chairman Warsh did not submit projections. Link

Global Equity Strategy: The risk for investors is less about valuation and more whether there is an unsustainable earnings bubble. Any slowdown in profit growth could put downward pressure on equity prices across the ecosystem. We recommend staying invested but diversify. Link

Flow: Asset managers finished $829mm better for sale with supply in macro products, and tech vs. small demand in comm. services and consumer discretionary. Hedge Funds finished small net buyers with demand in tech, consumer discretionary, communication services, and consumer staples vs. supply in macro products and financials.

Basket Idea / UK Consumer - GSXEUKCO: Since end-February, gas prices have risen >2x, headline inflation is running ahead of BoE estimates, the labor market is softening, and UK yields are at multi-year highs (10y +115bp to 5.38%).

HF Update: Global Fundamental L/S returns are down -1.1% so far in September (now up +12.1% YTD as of 9/14), driven by beta losses as alpha is up +0.2% MTD (now up +7.8% YTD). Positioning remains guarded, with overall gross/net leverage sitting at the 55th/18th percentiles vs. the past year. DM Asia is

the most net bought (driven by long buys), Europe has seen relatively little net activity, while EM Asia and North America are the most net sold (both driven by short sales).

GREEK MACRO, GREEK BANKS post our trip last week, BASKET & INDEX INCLUSION. They are one of my favourite longs in the rates sensitive space, still at an attractive discount vs sector and even more so vs Spanish banks. Link

Sunbelt (Up to B / PT +20%): Why? 1) rate improvement for the first time in several quarters, the start of a margin recovery and return to EPS growth later this year; and 2) local non-resi has stabilized. Looking ahead, we see scope for the company to deliver strong top-line growth (c.10% organic rental revenue growth in FY27) and margin recovery, which should drive double-digit EPS growth. Link