US The S&P 500 Index closed on Friday at an all-time high. Stocks gained 0.7%, as retail sales sparked optimism in the economy and JPMorgan Chase & Co. signalled tax cuts will bolster profits. The dollar weakened the most since March, sending the euro to a three-year high and the pound to its strongest since […]
As investors look ahead to a new year, they could be forgiven for wondering whether they will be as pleasantly surprised in 2018 as they were in 2017. A number of political worries on the horizon this time last year signally failed to materialise, including the likely shape of President Trump’s trade policies, the rise […]
Demand for income remains strong but investors may be taking on more risk than they realise. We look at how to generate a sustainable income yield across asset classes. A decade on from the start of the global financial crisis, the search for yield continues unabated. Our 2016 Global Investor Survey found that 41% of […]
US US stocks resumed their upward momentum yesterday as the S&P 500 rose 0.7%, led higher by gains in Energy stocks. US bond markets were calmer yesterday as reports that Chinese government officials recommended buying less US debt were deemed to have been misinterpreted. The yield on 10-year government bonds traded 1bp lower (prices rose). […]
US 2018 has begun on a positive note from an equity perspective, with the S&P 500 +2.6% last week, the best week for the index since December 2016. US equities traded 0.7% higher on Friday, shrugging off the weak jobs figure, as gains in technology (+1.2%) and healthcare (+0.9%) offsetting marginal weakness in utilities and […]
Richard TurnillBlackRock Global Chief Investment Strategist PublishedDecember 19, 2017 Freedom Z / Shutterstock Richard draws lessons from a year that saw surprisingly large returns, falling inflation and flat long-term bond yields. The past year turned out to be more bullish than we anticipated. Consensus growth expectations caught up to ours and global earnings jumped—but the magnitude of […]
Rick RiederBlackRock Chief Investment Officer of Global Fixed Income PublishedDecember 15, 2017 Rick Rieder and Russ Brownback examine the more volatile cyclical dynamics we’re likely to encounter in 2018, even as the secular risk-asset bull market remains in place. Sir John Templeton famously stated that “bull markets are born in pessimism, grow in skepticism, mature in optimism, […]
US US bonds extended weakness from the previous session, the dollar moved lower against a basket of peers, while US equities were little changed yesterday. Moves in government bonds received the most attention once again. 10-year yields traded a further 4bps higher (prices fell), settling at 2.50%, translating into a 10bps move higher over the […]