The past month in markets has been littered with momentous events: a record burst in U.S. stock market volatility, near-confirmation from the Federal Reserve that U.S. interest rates will soon be cut, and the biggest ever one-day crash in a listed company’s market cap. But one constant has been the resilience of bonds, which are once again fulfilling their role as the classic hedge in a traditionally diversified portfolio. This is a sign that the economic landscape is shifting and that investors may increasingly move away from equities – which ...

Hedge funds around the world offloaded stocks for a fifth consecutive month in August, and at their fastest pace since March 2022, Goldman Sachs said in a note seen by Reuters. Investors around the world switched to risk-off mode amid a meltdown in global equity markets in early August, triggered by U.S. recession fears and the unwinding of massive Japanese yen carry trade. The accelerated sell-off was mainly driven by growing short-selling in single stocks, along with mild selling in long positions, the bank said this week. The selling was ...

Investors poured $61 billion into cash-like money market funds in the week to Wednesday, as they braced for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates for the first time in four years, Bank of America said on Friday. WHY IT’S IMPORTANT Many investment fund managers have hoped rate cuts will lower the returns on money-market funds (MMFs) and send a torrent of cash into stocks and bonds. But, somewhat counter-intuitively, big investors tend to move into MMF as the range of short-term fixed income assets they hold typically offer higher ...

U.S. equity funds experienced their largest weekly outflow in 12 weeks by Sept. 4, driven by heightened investor anxiety about the economic outlook as they awaited crucial labor market data. According to LSEG data, investors disposed of a net $11.73 billion worth of U.S. equity funds during the week, registering a fourth weekly outflow in five weeks. A lackluster U.S. manufacturing report on Tuesday reignited investor concerns about economic growth, ahead of the crucial non-farm payrolls report due at 8:30 a.m. ET (1230 GMT). This upcoming report could provide further ...

Asian shares struggled for direction while the yen jumped on Friday, as investors remained on tenterhooks ahead of U.S. jobs data that could decide the size and speed of coming rate cuts in the world’s largest economy. Oil prices are staring down their worst week in more than a year to hover just above a critical chart level, with their near-term fate depending on the payrolls report due later in the day. Europe is set for a lower open, with both EUROSTOXX 50 futures and FTSE futures off 0.2%. Nasdaq ...

India’s stock market rally is ramping up its index weighting and creating a dilemma for global fund managers: sit back and watch as their relative exposure shrinks while the market grows, or buy in at increasingly eye-watering prices. Most find the latter uncomfortably risky and are seeking alternatives, some driving money into India’s smaller companies, while others are looking elsewhere at other emerging markets. The trend has been driven by years of strong earnings in India at the same time as China’s markets have stumbled, upending their weightings in the ...

Japanese investors were net buyers of foreign bonds for a fifth successive week ended Aug. 31, as a stronger yen boosted their purchasing power and as there was no recurrence of the extreme volatility witnessed at the start of the month. They acquired long-term overseas bonds of a robust 1.64 trillion yen ($11.41 billion) following 1.56 trillion yen worth of net purchases in the prior week, data from the Ministry of Finance showed. Japanese investors, however, sold about 275.5 billion yen worth of short-term debt instruments. An interest rate hike ...

India could soon overtake China as the most influential in a key emerging markets index, pulling in more foreign funds and adding fuel to a stock market rally that, though already among the best globally, is “only past the halfway mark”, Morgan Stanley said. The South Asian country’s weightage in the MSCI emerging markets index rose to 19.8% after a rejig in August, closing in on China’s 24.2%. India’s weightage has steadily increased from 9.2% in December 2020, while China’s has dropped from 39.1%. “A rising weight essentially means more ...

Recent U.S. dollar weakness will stall in the coming three months despite financial market traders ramping up bets for Federal Reserve interest rate cuts, according to a majority of foreign exchange strategists surveyed by Reuters. After surging about 5% against a basket of major currencies by midyear, the greenback lost almost all its gains as interest rate futures started pricing in about 100 basis points of Fed easing this year, nearly double June’s expectations. That was driven in part by July labor market data showing signs of a slowdown, bolstered ...

China: trade, inflation, and credit data China is set to release its trade, inflation, and credit data in the coming week. We anticipate August’s trade data continued to slow, with export growth around 5% year-on-year and imports around 3% YoY. A key category to watch will be auto exports, which have recently faced pressure and are expected to slow further this month. If auto exports shift from being a tailwind to a headwind, it could negatively impact China’s overall export strength. Inflation is likely to edge up slightly in August. ...

Asian shares were subdued on Thursday, with Japanese stocks sliding to their lowest in three weeks as investors sought safety, pushing the yen to a one-month high while U.S. economic worries boosted prospects for the Federal Reserve to cut rates. In a data-packed week, investors are scouring for clues to the health of the U.S. economy and the labour market, with markets on edge from Tuesday’s weak manufacturing figures and Wednesday’s mixed labour data. Amid the fragile sentiment, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei .N225 slid more than 1% to its lowest in ...

Overseas investors aggressively withdrew from Asian tech stocks in August, as they turned pricey after their recent rally and doubts emerged about the profitability of AI investments. According to LSEG data, foreigners sold a net $3.8 billion worth of regional shares in South Korea, India, Taiwan, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, and the Philippines last month, after two months of net purchases in a row. “The month (August) has seen the outperforming tech sector trailing behind the rest in terms of performance, seemingly with some rotation in place towards the laggards as ...

Mounting unease over the U.S. economic outlook and a seasonally weak month for stocks have created another perfect storm of global market volatility, leaving investors scrambling for protection and fearing another round of currency chaos. Following a rapid recovery for risky assets such as stocks and high yield bonds from a chaotic early August selloff, traders have lost their short-lived optimism that U.S. interest rate cuts would support growth. Instead, they appear to be already getting ahead of U.S. jobs data on Friday that may repeat last month’s weak report, ...

Chip shares dragged Asian indexes lower on Wednesday and European futures fell after growth concerns drove the steepest selloff in a month on Wall Street and investors wiped $279 billion from the value of market darling chipmaker Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA). Oil hit year-to-date lows in Asia trade, the safe-haven yen rose, Japanese stocks fell more than 3% and the regional shares ex-Japan dropped nearly 2%. [MKTS/GLOB] Here are analyst and investor comments on market moves: BRITNEY LAM, PORTFOLIO MANAGER, MAGELLAN CAPITAL, DUBAI “Just look at the macro backdrop, the two key ...

World stocks steadied on Tuesday and the dollar remained near a two-week high as investors turned cautious awaiting a raft of economic data that may determine how deeply the U.S. will cut interest rates. Focus was on the U.S. ISM manufacturing activity survey due later in the day, setting the scene ahead of jobs data due on Friday that will be crucial for whether the Federal Reserve cuts by 25 basis points or 50 on Sept. 18 and how much it delivers for the rest of the year. World shares ...