Roaring global growth is emerging

The chaotic newsflow, geopolitical shape-shifting and wild market swings of 2026 have clouded one basic signal: the global economy is racing forward.

- Mike Dolan

A pedestrian walks past an electronic quotation board displaying the foreign exchange rate of the Japanese yen against the US dollar in Tokyo, yesterday.

(AFP)

Market takes this year have covered everything from the dollar and Federal Reserve independence to precious metals swings, Nato tensions, Japanese elections and even carnage in software stocks. This has all left investors breathless in 2026.

And we're only six weeks in.

But, as Morgan Stanley strategist Andrew Sheets points out, all of this noise masks a "powerful overlapping signal worthy of respect".

A cyclical whoosh is underway in the global economy.

Sheets makes the case that one indicator of rising global economic activity may be dismissed as a quirk with alternative explanations, but several coinciding are harder to ignore.

For a start, there’s copper, traditionally at the heart of both tech and industrial activity. The metal’s price has soared up to 40% in six months. While that may be partly related to the speculative frenzy in precious metals as well as structural supply issues, it tallies with other signals and drivers.