Evidence that inflation is falling and global growth is stalling gave EPFR-tracked Bond Funds a shot in the arm during the first full week of January. Ahead of December’s CPI number, which showed US inflation grew at a 13-month low of 6.45% in the final month of 2022, investors committed over $17 billion to all Bond Funds.
Asset markets endured further pain during the second week of May as investors tried – and largely failed — to square tighter monetary policy in the US and other markets with the latest global GDP forecasts. The World Bank, which came in 2022 forecasting global GDP growth of 4.1% for the year, dropped that estimate to 3.2% in April and is expected to lower it again after data showed the US economy contacting by 1.4% in the first quarter.
With four out of five US companies reporting Q3 2021 earnings that beat expectations, US equity markets climbed to fresh record highs during in late October.
