By love-89.com In a recent interview, we explored the current dynamics of global money market funds as of the week ending October 2. Analysts noted a remarkable influx of capital, driven largely by investor caution ahead of the U.S. non-farm payroll report and increasing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, which have created a greater demand for safer assets.
According to data from LSEG Lipper, last week investors net purchased an impressive $23.21 billion in money market funds, following a robust net inflow of $98.19 billion the week before.
However, the unexpectedly strong September non-farm payroll report alleviated some concerns about the U.S. labor market health, which subsequently tempered expectations for substantial interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve in November.
In examining the specifics, U.S. money market funds attracted inflows totaling $41.32 billion for the week ending October 2, a decline from the previous week’s $113.11 billion. In contrast, both European and Asian funds faced outflows, losing $8.91 billion and $8.81 billion, respectively.
Turning to equities, global stock funds witnessed approximately $33.89 billion in inflows this week, marking a significant shift from the prior week’s net outflow of $13.85 billion. This uptick is largely attributed to enhanced stimulus measures instituted by Beijing, which encouraged investors to increase their investments in Chinese stock funds by around $5.31 billion—the largest single-week inflow since December 2020.
Despite these gains, sector equity funds continued to struggle, with outflows for the fifth week running, totaling about $3.94 billion. Notably, the healthcare and financial sector funds recorded significant net outflows of $823 million and $728 million, respectively.
On a positive note, global bond funds have seen consistent inflows for 41 weeks in a row, with the latest figure reaching a net inflow of $9.47 billion. Demand for high-yield funds has been particularly strong, resulting in a net inflow of $4.56 billion, the highest amount observed since mid-November 2023.
Moreover, precious metals remain a popular choice among investors, as gold and other metal funds continued to attract interest for the eighth consecutive week, with net purchases totaling $1.05 billion. Additionally, energy funds also saw a small influx of approximately $8.3 million.
Finally, focusing on emerging markets, an analysis of 29,545 funds revealed that investors poured around $7.03 billion into equity funds, which represents the most significant inflow since January 2021.