Investors poured money into stocks and bonds in the week to Wednesday, favouring laggards such as utilities, but pulling money from pricier parts of the market such as technology stocks, BofA research showed on Friday. Equity funds saw $11.9 billion in inflows, while bond funds drew in $11.7 billion, BofA said citing data from EPFR. Within fixed income, Treasury inflation-protected securities (TIPS) saw outflows of $700 million, the most in nine weeks. Data on Wednesday showed U.S. consumer inflation moderated in line with expectations in April, offering investors confidence that ...

U.S. equity funds attracted significant inflows in the seven days to May 15, fuelled by expectations of Federal Reserve rate cuts following subdued U.S. jobs data and a softer-than-anticipated inflation reading. Investors pumped a net $5.78 billion into U.S. equity funds, the most in a week since March 20, data from LSEG showed. Wednesday’s report showing a slowdown in U.S. consumer prices boosted market anticipation of two rate cuts by year end. However, optimism has since waned again with the most recent jobs data on Thursday reflecting a still fairly ...

China’s finance ministry auctioned 30-year bonds at a yield of 2.57% on Friday, largely in line with expectations, as Beijing kicked off sales of 1-trillion-yuan long-term special bonds to help stimulate a flagging economy. The coupon on the bonds, worth 40 billion yuan ($5.53 billion), was slightly higher than yields in the secondary market CN230023= at the time of the auction and a tad lower than the 2.58% estimate in a Reuters poll. Chinese long-dated treasury bond yields are determined by growth and inflation expectations but also short-term factors, so ...

US stocks are at fresh records, bitcoin is soaring, and investors are spurning insurance against portfolio declines as evidence that the economy is headed for a so-called soft landing whets market participants’ appetite for risk. Call it the Goldilocks trade — a bet that the Federal Reserve will be able to tame inflation while keeping growth from declining too rapidly. While that outcome was in doubt as recently as last month, investors have been reassured by a more recent spate of economic data – including Wednesday’s report showing S. consumer ...

A BofA survey showed investors expected steady, albeit limited returns from Asian equities outside Japan in the next 12 months, amid growing hopes over a Chinese economic turnaround and stronger earnings. The survey, which was conducted in early-May, showed a majority of the surveyed fund managers expect returns between 5% and 10% from Asian equities excluding Japan, over the next 12 months. 41% of respondents in the survey also expect the Chinese economy to strengthen over the next 12 months, up drastically from 10% seen in February, BofA said in ...

Meme stocks are soaring again, delighting fans, frustrating detractors and showing Wall Street that the social media force behind the wild GameStop (NYSE:) rally in 2021 is still going strong. The American video game retailer is again the star, shooting up 340% over the last 10 trading days after a string of posts on the X platform from an account linked to Keith Gill, the central figure behind the previous frenzy. Shares of other companies, including theater chain AMC headphones maker Koss and food storage container company Tupperware (NYSE:) have ...

Asian stocks rose on Wednesday while the dollar drifted lower as traders weighed mixed U.S. producer price data and braced for the crucial consumer price report later in the day that is likely to influence the Federal Reserve’s near-term policy path. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.38%, scaling a fresh 15-month high earlier in the session. Japan’s Nikkei gained 0.58%. Data overnight showed U.S. producer prices increased more than expected in April, indicating that inflation remained stubbornly high early in the second quarter. Fed Chair Jerome ...

Bond strategists upgraded their U.S. Treasury yield forecasts for coming months to their highest since at least November amid sticky inflation and greater conviction in financial markets of fewer Federal Reserve rate cuts this year, a Reuters poll found. After hitting a cycle peak of 5.02% in October 2023, the benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury yield US10YT=RR plummeted over 110 basis points by year-end as traders rapidly priced in nearly 150 basis points of Fed interest rate cuts in 2024. Persistent inflation and strong U.S. economic data have forced markets to ...

Hedge funds sold single stocks at the fastest pace in five months in the week to May 10, Goldman Sachs said in a client letter, ahead of U.S. inflation figures that could determine global central banks’ next moves. Sellers also outweighed buyers of global equities for the first time in four weeks, the Goldman Sachs prime brokerage note which tracks hedge fund activity showed. This included traders that unwound long positions, which speculate that the price of an asset will rise, and those that added short positions, which bet on ...

Investors are racing back into European bank stocks after a surprisingly upbeat earnings season, pushing their shares to multi-year highs, but the bounce has also lured short sellers betting that the optimism is unlikely to last. The STOXX European banks index climbed past 200 on Friday, its highest level since August 2015, as confidence in the sector’s earning power grows while the U.S. Federal Reserve and Bank of England hold back on widely-anticipated interest rate cuts. But the number of investors making short bets against some major banks is also ...

Expectations over interest rate cuts rather than earnings optimism has made investors the “most bullish” since November 2021, Bank of America’s monthly fund manager survey for May showed on Tuesday. The survey of global fund managers with $562 billion in asset under management found 82% expect the first by the rate cut by the Federal Reserve in the second half, while 78% say a recession is unlikely over the next 12 months. Cash levels fell to a 3-year low of 4% from 4.2% the previous months and stock allocation reached ...

Asian shares hovered around 15-month highs on Tuesday and the dollar was firm ahead of highly anticipated U.S. inflation data, while Japanese bonds were squeezed as the central bank pulled back a little on its bond buying programme. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan climbed slightly and hit its highest since early 2023 in morning trade, as a strong rally in Hong Kong shares extended into a fourth consecutive week. Japan’s Nikkei was flat. Benchmark 10-year Japanese government bond yields rose one basis point to 0.95%, the highest ...

Switzerland and Sweden have already cut rates this year. The Eurozone and the UK look set to follow shortly. And the Fed eagerly awaits the starting pistol on its easing cycle – if only the data would allow. ING’s call is that US price and activity data will allow the Fed to start cutting in September. We see some modest downside to the dollar ahead of November. Executive summary It looks like an increasing number of central banks are wanting to ease monetary policy. With countries like Switzerland and Sweden ...

China’s finance ministry plans to start raising 1 trillion yuan ($138 billion) in long-awaited, long-term special treasury bonds this week to raise funds it will use to stimulate key sectors of its flagging economy. The finance ministry confirmed what four sources had told Reuters earlier on Monday that the 1 trillion yuan ($138.23 billion) of special government bonds would have tenors of 20 to 50 years and issuance will begin on May 17. The sources who have direct knowledge of the plans said 300 billion yuan worth of 20-year bonds, ...

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