Equity funds sucked in more than $26 billion in the week to Sept. 16, BofA research showed, as investors chased U.S. stocks after a sharp selloff earlier in the month led by technology stocks. In a “frenzy into U.S. stocks”, investors pumped nearly $24 billion into equities in the world’s top economy, the largest such inflows since March 2018, said BofA. The inflows come after 10% pullback in Nasdaq 100 .NDX in early September. In a recent fund manager survey by BofA, it found that a “tech bubble” is now ...

U.S. stock futures wavered Friday ahead of the simultaneous expiration of an array of stock futures and options contracts that could result in increased volatility. Futures tied to the S&P 500 wavered between losses and gains. The benchmark may still be on track to eke out a tepid gain for the week, despite two consecutive days of declines. Contracts tied to the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite ticked up 0.5%. The occurrence of so-called quadruple witching — when both futures and options linked to individual stocks and stock indexes expire on the ...

The dollar was unable to shake off the previous session’s lows on Friday and was set for a weekly fall, losing out to the Japanese yen in particular, which hit a seven-week high as investors sought the safe-haven currency. Data released on Thursday showed that the number of people in the United States filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell less than expected, suggesting the country’s market recovery is stalling. The dollar – which had been boosted by the Federal Reserve upgrading its 2020 economic forecast earlier this week – ...

Stocks struggled on Friday as worries about a resurgence in coronavirus cases and lingering disappointment that central banks merely affirmed their monetary support this week, without promising new stimulus, kept investors wary. Oil rose after OPEC flagged a crackdown on members that did not cut output, and the dollar was back to the bottom of its recent range following its brief journey higher after Wednesday’s U.S. Federal Reserve meeting. The Fed promised to keep rates low for a long time, but gave no new hints about any further monetary support. ...

The dollar extended overnight losses on Friday after data on Thursday pointed to a slowdown in the U.S. economic recovery, while riskier currencies gained, with the Aussie and Kiwi dollars up. Data released on Thursday showed that the number of people filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell less than expected. Homebuilding also fell, after strong gains in the previous three months. The dollar – which had been boosted by the Federal Reserve upgrading its 2020 economic forecast earlier this week – gave up these gains, and was down 0.1% ...

U.S. stock futures fell Thursday, pointing to a steepening rout in the S&P 500 as investors became unsettled by the Federal Reserve’s dour outlook as well as conflicting signals about when vaccines may become available. Futures tied to the S&P 500 dropped 1.2%, suggesting that the benchmark may fall for a second day after the opening bell in New York. Contracts tied to the Nasdaq Composite fell around 1%, pushing the tech-heavy index further into negative territory for the month. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s comments Wednesday that the economic ...

Morgan Stanley MS.N Chief Financial Officer Jonathan Pruzan said on Wednesday the bank doesn’t expect its sales and trading and investment banking business to perform as well in the third quarter as it had in the second. Pruzan, at a virtual conference hosted by Morgan Stanley, said that August activity levels had still been good and the bank had seen “no real slowdown”. “From an Institutional Securities Group (ISG) perspective, we’re not going to have as good a quarter as we did in the second quarter, but I would say ...

The U.S. dollar fell across the board on Wednesday as expectations grew that the U.S. central bank may hint at more policy action, while the Chinese yuan vaulted to its highest level since May 2019. The Federal Reserve’s decision is due at 1800 GMT. Markets are keen to see the Fed’s economic projections, and particularly whether it spells out where it sees inflation headed and what exactly that means for interest rates. “The Fed may follow up by announcing some new easing steps in accordance with its new regime, though ...

The European Union is set to delay a decision on allowing clearing houses in London to continue clearing euro transactions for EU-based clients due to Britain’s plan to breach part of the Brexit divorce settlement, a derivatives industry source said. The delay is one of the first warning shots from the EU as UK lawmakers vote later on Monday on a bill that would breach parts of Britain’s Withdrawal Agreement from the bloc. Brussels had said it would grant Britain “time-limited” access to euro derivatives clearing from January to avoid ...

There is growing “daylight” between stock markets and other risky financial market asset classes and the reality of a global economy sapped by Covid-19, the Bank for International Settlements said in its quarterly report on Monday. “Based on a broad set of indicators, it is hard not to see a certain amount of daylight between risky asset prices and economic prospects,” Claudio Borio, Head of the BIS Monetary and Economic Department, said. “We don’t really know exactly how the tensions are going to be resolved. There is quite a lot ...

Odds of a damaging no-deal Brexit are “meaningfully lower” than the market is implying and for investors willing to look through short-term volatility, current sterling levels are attractive, investment bank Goldman Sachs said. The bank said in a note late on Friday the market was pricing 40%-45% odds of Britain ending its post-Brexit transition period without reaching a free-trade agreement with the European Union. While those odds could rise further, Goldman Sachs said the UK government was aware how damaging a no-deal outcome would be to the economy. “For investors ...

Market turmoil due to coronavirus lockdowns in March raises questions about whether central banks should offer access to liquidity more widely in future shocks, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) said on Monday. The BIS, a forum for the world’s central banks, said in a quarterly review article that banks’ cross-border claims on so-called non-banks – like insurers, clearing houses, money market funds and hedge funds – rocketed by 63% to $7.5 trillion between the first quarter of 2015 and the end of March this year. The increase in links ...

U.S. stock index futures climbed on Monday on signs of progress in COVID-19 vaccine development and a flurry of multi-billion dollar deals, including a report of Oracle winning the battle for the U.S. arm of TikTok. Shares of Oracle ORCL.N surged 8.4% in premarket trading, leading gains among the S&P 500 constituents after sources told Reuters the cloud services firm is entering a deal structured as a partnership rather than an outright sale to try to navigate geopolitical tensions between Beijing and Washington. A Microsoft Corp MSFT.O led consortium that ...

The dollar slipped on Monday against its major peers as a wave of M&A deals lifted the mood in global equity markets and investors looked ahead to an event-packed week which includes a Fed meeting and the appointment of a new Japanese premier. The UK parliament was preparing to debate a draft bill which the government has admitted breaches the terms of its EU divorce treat. The currency nevertheless firmed 0.6% versus the dollar following its weakest week since March GBP=D3. The gain was partly down to the dollar index, ...

A steep decline in the U.S. dollar index since March is creating a rare but ominous technical pattern in its chart, which could signal that a rebound in the greenback in recent days may be short-lived. The dollar’s fall by as much as 10.9% since its March high of 102.99 is creating a multi-year double-top – a bearish, M-shaped chart pattern containing two peaks and a trough, a technical analysis of the dollar index shows. The pattern will be confirmed if the index falls another 5%. Technical market analysis examines ...