Market Watch: Ten big trends for 2018

There is huge investor demand for clean energy stocks like solar power companies. Picture / Getty Images

As 2017 draws to a hectic close we look into the crystal ball to consider what the new year will bring for world markets.

Pie Funds chief executive Mike Taylor has made his picks including new records for the stockmarket and a global correction.

Ten big trends to watch for:

1. Oil price to hit US$80 a barrel, driven by strong global economy, supply constraints.

2. The return of US and European wage inflation as labour markets tighten further due to low unemployment.

3. Interest rate hikes. The US Federal Reserve to go four times.

4. Keep an eye on the Dogs of the Dow and small dogs of the Dow, the unloved stocks with the highest yields or lowest prices.

5. Increasing volatility. In 2018 we'll see QE unwinding, higher interest rates and plenty more political turmoil.

6. Clean energy and ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) stocks like solar power companies. There is huge investor demand for ESG stocks, but not that many companies qualify for ESG status - so that could drive price.

7. Retail stocks. Definitely out of vogue with all the focus on the online shopping revolution. But have they been oversold on the hype? Bricks and mortar shopping may have more life left in it than the market has assumed.

8. Meanwhile, what will online giant Amazon do next? Expect to see it try and disrupt another vertical in 2018 - like banking. Could we see an Amazon cryptocurrency?

9. Global equities to have a 10 per cent to15% per cent correction lasting 3 months. Corrections occur once a year on average, Taylor notes. The last correction finished in February 2016. Although the market went five years without a correction in 1990's.

10. But correction doesn't mean crash and Taylor still expects the S&P500 index to break the 3000 barrier. It is currently trading at about 2600.