(Alliance News) - JPMorgan American Investment Trust PLC on Thursday said the US is heading towards favourably reduced inflation as the company outperformed its benchmark in the first half of 2023.

The fund is managed by JP Morgan Asset Management and is an active investor in "the core US stock market".

Net asset value as at June 30 rose 13% to 789.0 pence per share from 696.3p a year prior.

NAV total return in the first six months of 2023 was 15%, outperforming its benchmark, the S&P 500, which returned around 11%.

The company maintained an interim dividend of 2.5 pence per share. It added that it aimed to at least maintain 2022's total dividend of 7.25p for 2023.

Looking ahead, JPMorgan American Investment Trust said: "Economic data has been broadly supportive of the market's intuition that things might stop getting worse."

Chair Kevin Carter said: "The pace and level of interest rate increases executed by the Federal Reserve since March 2022 appears, so far, to have delivered the favourable outcome of significantly reduced inflation while avoiding a recession for the economy."

Carter added that shareholders should be confident in the focused and long-term investment approach they follow with the company's portfolio.

JPMorgan American Investment Trust shares were marginally up at 792.33 pence each in London on Thursday morning.

By Tom Budszus, Alliance News reporter

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