Life is tough for many Australians, now dealing with 12 interest rate rises over the past 13 months.
But many experts believe the Reserve Bank of Australia is close to stopping the pain.
The full effect of increased interest rates takes time to filter through the entire economy, so any sign that inflation is coming down will encourage the central bank to pause the hikes.
So in anticipation of that relief, investors could consider buying certain ASX shares that could benefit.
Today let's take a look at two in particular: Goodman Group (ASX: GMG) and Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG).
Why Goodman could be a great buy right now
The real estate market always suffers when rates head upwards. Both residential and commercial demand cools as buyers have less money to spend, and general economic activity slows.
As an industrial real estate provider, Goodman Group is an obvious beneficiary of an end to interest rate hikes.
Morgans investment advisor Jabin Hallihan last week declared Goodman a buy, noting the business has more than $80 billion of assets under management around the world.
"Goodman operates in 14 countries across the Asia Pacific, Europe and the Americas," he said.
"It can grow assets under management and add value from an active buy, build and manage strategy."
The Morgans team is counting on a 21% short-term upside for the stock as interest rate hikes cease later this year.
Hallihan and his colleague are not the only ones keen on Goodman at the moment.
According to CMC Markets, nine out of 12 analysts currently rate the stock as a buy.
Why Macquarie could be a great buy right now
While big banks have been on the nose with investors this year, Macquarie Group seems to have held up pretty well, with the shares trading 5.5% year to date.
Fairmont Equities managing director Michael Gable last week pointed out how Macquarie's business model is quite different from the other behemoths.
"The earnings base is diversified across numerous financial markets and geographies, with two-thirds of its revenue generated in offshore markets," he said.
"The business mix is also highly diversified, with lending, client brokerage, and principal investments in both equities and credit, but its largest business is in capital-light asset management."
After mining and energy outperformed in 2022, the worry is that Macquarie's Commodities & Global Markets (CGM) division will not do as well this year.
But Gable thought this anxiety is overstated, as the business has structural tailwinds it can ride on.
"These include US pipeline and storage constraints, growing international LNG trade, variability in global weather patterns, which creates demand for Macquarie as they specialise in the ability to [move] gas and power to where it is needed, and the energy transition towards wind, solar and nuclear."
Macquarie shares have also dipped more than 6% over the past eight days or so, presenting a tempting buying opportunity.
The verdict
Both have reasonable cases for buying currently, but my pick in anticipation of rate relief is the Goodman Group.
The share price is still about 25% down from its peak at the start of last year, and the business is in a sector that's much more directly influenced by rates.
Goodman stocks also enjoy almost unanimous popularity among institutional investors.
Macquarie shares are a rock-solid long-term buy, but I don't know that they will benefit as much in the short term from interest rate rises coming to an end.
As such, it has a more polarised range of opinions in the professional world.
Seven analysts surveyed on CMC Markets currently rate Macquarie as a buy versus six who deem it a hold.
