Big Funds Bet the ‘Anything But Bonds’ Trade Is Poised to End
Big US bond investors have been aggressively shifting money into long-dated notes, betting that the unloved asset class will be one of the winners from eventual interest rate cuts.
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Big US bond investors have been aggressively shifting money into long-dated notes, betting that the unloved asset class will be one of the winners from eventual interest rate cuts.
A measure of underlying US inflation cooled in April for the first time in six months, a small step in the right direction for Federal Reserve officials looking to start cutting interest rates this year.
Emerging-market currencies dipped Friday on dwindling optimism over Federal Reserve rate cuts, paring their fourth-straight week of gains.
The owner of a historic office building in Manhattan’s Financial District has filed bankruptcy to sell the property, which has been subject to foreclosure and suffered from a lack of tenants due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Deutsche Bank AG has entered a capital-relief deal with the European Investment Bank that allows the German lender to grant discounts on more than €600 million ($652 million) of green mortgages in its home market.
Dec 16, 2019
Bloomberg News
,Canadian home sales picked up in November as a rebound in Toronto and Vancouver offset weakness in Calgary.
Home sales rose 0.6 per cent nationally from October, marking the ninth straight month of increases, the Canadian Real Estate Association reported Monday. Benchmark prices climbed 0.8% on the month.
Toronto sales rebounded from October’s dip, rising 1.6 per cent in November while Vancouver continued its momentum, increasing 5.2 per cent. Transactions in Calgary fell 8.1 per cent, as an oversupply of homes in the prairie provinces favors buyers. The Ottawa market shrank by 1.3 per cent while Montreal ticked up 0.5 per cent.
Residential housing has recovered this year from a dismal 2018 as borrowing costs remain low and buyers adjust to tighter mortgage rules. Prices look set to increase, with 4.2 months of inventory on a national basis the tightest since 2007 and below the long-term average of 5.3 months.
“We look for rising sales in 2020, consistent with job growth, population gains and a mild boost from government programs for first-time homebuyers,” Rishi Sondhi, an economist at Toronto-Dominion Bank, said in a note. “Of course, this view rests on financial conditions remaining accommodative.”
The housing market is poised to improve going into 2020 with underlying economic fundamentals remaining strong, according to CREA, which revised its sales forecast upward for 2019 and 2020. The industry association now expects national homes sales to reach 486,800 units this year, reflecting stronger than anticipated activity in British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia. And in 2020, CREA expects sales to rise 8.9 per cent to 530,000 units.
“Recent national sales trends have improved by more than expected over the second half of 2019 while new listings have fallen,” CREA said in the report. “While sales are expected to trend higher, most of this annual increase in 2020 reflects a weak start to 2019 rather than a significant change in sales trends over the forecast horizon.”
Benchmark prices also continued their recovery, rising 2.6 per cent nationally from a year earlier to $638,300. Though Vancouver, Calgary and other western cities have lower prices than a year ago, central Canadian markets are appreciating. Toronto’s prices are up 6.5per cent, while Montreal’s rose 8.7%. Prices in the capital city of Ottawa are up 11 per cent.
--With assistance from Erik Hertzberg