6 Min Read
SYDNEY/SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Central banks in Asia struggled to smother a selloff in global bonds on Friday, piling pressure on their bigger peers to do more, as spooked investors sold assets to cover deepening losses and rushed out of crowded positions in stocks.
FILE PHOTO: A man wearing a protective face mask walks past a stock quotation board outside a brokerage, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Tokyo, Japan November 2, 2020. REUTERS/Issei Kato
The erratic trade evoked memories of last March and comes as the pandemic recovery enters a delicate phase, with financial markets moving swiftly to price in an end to the cheap money that had lit a fire under world stocks for a year.
Investors piling into tech and financial stocks helped equity funds attract $46.2 billion in their third-largest inflow on record in the week to Wednesday while inflation linked bonds also shone, BofA's weekly fund flow data showed on Friday.
The world's largest asset manager BlackRock has cut its stance on government bonds, preferring equities in light of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout and potentially up to $2.8 trillion of additional U.S. fiscal spending this year.
By Reuters Staff
1 Min Read
FILE PHOTO: Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank President Esther George addresses the National Association for Business Economics in Denver, Colorado, U.S. October 6, 2019. REUTERS/Ann Saphir
(Reuters) - Kansas City Fed President Esther George, asked Thursday if rising fuel prices could create the false impression that inflation is rising, said she is watching wage trends more closely for signs of persistent inflation.
“You don’t dismiss it,” George said during a virtual discussion. “But it also is not something I think you will find the Fed reacting to immediately.”
Reporting by Jonnelle Marte
The U.S.'s improving growth outlook and rising market bond yields are not pushing the Federal Reserve to consider paring back the bond purchases it is conducting each month to boost the economic recovery, St. Louis Federal Reserve president James Bullard said on Thursday.