La revue hebdomadaire des marchés

La revue hebdomadaire des marchés est une mise à jour hebdomadaire sur les marchés qui présente des nouvelles sur les investissements mondiaux sous forme de vidéo de cinq minutes. Elle vous donne facilement accès à certains de nos meilleurs stratèges en placement.

(En anglais seulement.)

Executive summary:

• Cooling inflation rates are sparking a decline in U.S. bond yields
• The eurozone economy experienced a mild contraction in the third quarter
• China's October retail-sales numbers topped expectations 

On the latest edition of Market Week in Review, Chief Investment Strategist for North America, Paul Eitelman, and Equity Manager Research Analyst Michelle Batjargal discussed the recent volatility in U.S. government bond yields and its impact on markets. They also chatted about the state of the economy in both Europe and China.

Treasury yields fall amid softer U.S. economic data

Batjargal opened the conversation by asking Eitelman to unpack the volatility in U.S. government bond yields over the past few months. Eitelman explained that since July, there’s essentially been two different regimes for bond yields. The first regime, which encompassed much of the third quarter, was powered by strength in the U.S. economy and led to a sharp uptick in yields, he said.

“During the July-to-September period, U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) growth rose at a nearly 5% clip, driven by very strong consumer spending and strong hiring,” Eitelman said. This economic resilience helped trigger a dramatic rise in long-term interest rates, he explained, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note jumping approximately 80 basis points (bps) during the quarter.

Since mid-October, another regime has emerged, Eitelman said, characterized by a fall in government bond yields as some weaker economic data points have come through. These include a softer-than-anticipated jobs report for October, weaker business surveys from the Institute for Supply Management and notably cooler-than-expected inflation data for October.

“Together, these reports have started to chip away at the higher-for-longer interest-rate narrative that has dominated fixed income markets the past few months,” Eitelman remarked. He noted that amid these developments, rates have plunged in recent weeks almost as sharply as they rose during the third quarter. For instance, as of market close on Nov. 16, the 10-year yield was off nearly 50 bps from its mid-October peak, Eitelman said. Even more striking, the 10-year yield declined by nearly 20 bps on Nov. 14 alone, following the release of the October inflation report, he said. “Put simply, that’s a very big move in a very short amount of time,” Eitelman commented.

He added that the impact of falling rates on asset-class dynamics has been fairly notable, with U.S. equity markets rallying on the news. As evidence, he pointed to the S&P 500® Index, which is up roughly 5% since mid-October. Other rate-sensitive asset classes have also risen, Eitelman said, noting that the Nasdaq Composite Index is also up significantly, while global REITs (real estate investment trusts) have returned over 7% in the same time frame.

“Ultimately, interest rates have been the key issue for markets for the last several months, and now that rates are falling, markets are reacting positively,” he stated.

European growth contracts while positive economic signs emerge in China

Switching to the latest economic news from Europe and China, Eitelman noted that both areas have been relatively weak spots in the global economy for much of 2023. Europe’s economy continues to look fairly soft, he said, explaining that the eurozone recently reported a 0.1% decline in GDP during the third quarter.

Eitelman explained that a combination of tight ECB (European Central Bank) policy, some weak industrial activity—particularly in Germany—and a cautious consumer has led to sluggish economic activity in the region. “Consumer spending in Europe has been much more restrained than in the U.S., which has helped contribute to the region’s relatively stagnant economic picture,” he noted.

By contrast, there are some signs that China’s economy has started to stabilize in the past few weeks, Eitelman said. While growth has been sluggish for much of the year, particularly due to the country’s ailing property sector, the near-daily announcements of fiscal stimulus measures from Chinese authorities appear to be helping the economy get back on track, he remarked. Chief among these measures is a recently announced US$1 trillion yuan package to support the construction sector, Eitelman noted.

He said that in another positive sign, October retail sales in China topped consensus expectations, rising by 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. “Overall, it does look like China’s economy is showing some encouraging signs of stabilization,” Eitelman concluded.

Ce document peut renfermer des énoncés prospectifs. Il s’agit d’énoncés de nature prévisionnelle qui dépendent d’événements ou de conditions futurs ou qui y font référence, ou qui incluent des termes comme « prévoit », « anticipe », « croit » ou des expressions négatives de ces termes. Tout énoncé portant sur les stratégies, les perspectives ou les rendements futurs ainsi que sur l’avenir possible d’un fonds constitue également un énoncé prospectif. Les énoncés prospectifs sont basés sur des prévisions et projections actuelles à l’égard d’événements futurs, et sont assujettis, notamment, à des risques, des incertitudes, des hypothèses et des facteurs économiques qui pourraient amener les résultats ou événements réels à différer considérablement des attentes courantes. Nous vous recommandons d’envisager attentivement tous ces facteurs avant de prendre une décision de placement et d’éviter de trop vous fier aux déclarations prospectives. Investissements Russell n’a aucune intention précise de mettre à jour une déclaration prospective à la suite de nouvelles informations, d’événements futurs ou d’autres raisons.

Les opinions exprimées dans le présent document peuvent évoluer en tout temps selon les conditions du marché ou toute autre condition et sont à jour à la date indiquée au haut de la page.

L’investissement comporte des risques, et il est possible de perdre le montant en capital investi.

Les indices ne sont pas gérés et il est impossible d’investir directement dans ces derniers. Les rendements passés ne garantissent pas les rendements futurs.

Les prévisions représentent les prédictions des prix du marché ou des tendances en matière de volume qui sont calculées au moyen de diverses données analytiques. Elles ne sont pas représentatives d’une projection du marché boursier ou d’un quelconque placement donné.

La diversification et la répartition stratégique de l’actif ne garantissent pas un bénéfice et ne protègent pas contre les pertes en cas de repli boursier.

CORPCA-00127