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Global Updates
  • The MSCI All Country World Index fell slightly during the week, after a mixed week in terms of overall performance. Chinese equities recorded the best session in 16 years on Monday, after economic stimulus measures announced by the Chinese government were very well received by investors. However, as the week progressed, the rise price of crude oil amid increased tensions in the Middle East weighed heavily on sentiment and market returns. 
  • The U.S. economy added far more jobs than expected in September, quashing expectations for another jumbo rate cut from the Federal Reserve and soothing some concern about the outlook for growth. 254,000 workers were added to nonfarm payrolls last month, well above the expected 140,000 by leading economists.
  • U.S. services sector activity jumped to a one and a half year high in September amid strong growth in new orders, more evidence that the economy remained on a solid footing in the third quarter.
  • Manufacturing activity across the Eurozone slowed in September at its fastest pace this year as demand waned sharply despite factories cutting prices and Germany, Europe’s largest economy, recorded its most pronounced worsening of conditions for 12 months.
  • Eurozone business activity slipped back into contraction in September although the downturn was not as steep as initially thought. HCOB’s composite Purchasing Managers’ Index for the bloc dropped to 49.6 in September from August’s 51.0.
  • Chinese and global institutional investors are revisiting Chinese property bonds, betting on an improvement in outlook as the government accelerates efforts to boost economic growth and revive the property sector. This comes after the announcement on Tuesday of the most aggressive stimulus measures since the pandemic, mostly targeting the property sector and triggering a rally in the offshore bonds of property developers. 
  • Oil prices gained during the week as investors feared a wider Middle East conflict could disrupt crude flows. This happened in the midst of the U.S. discussing whether it would support Israeli strikes on Iran’s oil facilities as retaliation for Tehran’s missile attack on Israel.
  • Japan’s service sector activity expanded for the third straight month in September, but the pace slowed slightly and confidence dipped in a sign of the broader economic strains amid weakness in manufacturing
U.S. Equity
  • The S&P 500 and NASDAQ index edged lower during the week, as the latest economic data on jobs and unemployment had investors worried about the quantum of the next rate cut by the Fed. Technology had a good week, but rising oil prices and worries of increased tensions in the Middle East weighed on returns.
  • U.S. manufacturing held steady at weaker levels in September, but new orders improved and prices paid for inputs declined to a nine-month low, which together with falling interest rates bode well for a rebound in activity in the coming months.
  • New orders for U.S.-manufactured goods unexpectedly fell in August, while business spending on equipment appears to have pulled back in the third quarter. Factory orders dropped 0.2% after a slightly downwardly revised 4.9% increase in July.
  • The United Auto Workers union at Stellantis’ Los Angeles parts distribution center voted in favor of authorizing a strike if the carmaker failed to settle grievances with the union over investments in the U.S.
  • A strike by dockworkers on the U.S. East Coast and Gulf Coast that disrupted much of the nation’s ocean shipping during the week ended, but the key issue of the growing use of automation remained unresolved.
  • Blackstone expects the private credit market to reach $30 trillion in the coming years
  • Spirit Airlines shares slumped 40% after the Wall Street Journal reported that the ultra-low-cost carrier was in talks with its bondholders about a potential bankruptcy filing.
  • General Motors has temporarily halted truck and SUV production at two assembly plants in Texas and Michigan because of impacts to its suppliers due to Hurricane Helene.
  • Tencent Holdings and Ubisoft Entertainment’s founding Guillemot family are considering options including a potential buyout of the latter.
Fixed Income
  • The Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index declined marginally this week.
  • The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield  rose to 3.97% and the yield on the 2-year note edged up to 3.90% over the week. 
  • The U.S. Dollar Index rose significantly this week after US payroll data for September vastly exceeded expectations.
Sources

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