For the fund-flows week ended November 20, 2014, the equity markets posted gains, with the S&P 500 climbing 0.57%. The market climb during the period was aided by strong results from Wal-Mart and data consistent with an improving labor market as well as broad expectations that the Federal Reserve will continue to keep interest rates near zero well into 2015. The markets were also bolstered by rising expectations surrounding the implementation of additional stimulus measures by central banks in Japan and Europe. U.S. stocks fell modestly at the close of the period on Wednesday as the release of the most

For the fund-flows week ended November 5, 2014, the equity market posted solid gains as the S&P 500 climbed 2.13% and managed to close the period at a record high. The domestic equity market extended its late-October rally; it was bolstered by a strong earnings report from Visa on Thursday, October 30, and again on Friday, October 31, as the Bank of Japan unexpectedly announced its intention to expand its stimulus measures. Stocks declined modestly on the following Monday and Tuesday, partly on deflation concerns as oil prices continued to slide.  However, the market closed out the period on a

For the fund-flows week ended October 22, 2014, the equity market rebounded sharply during the first four days of the period, mitigating some of the prior week’s significant losses. Despite declining at the close of the period on Wednesday, the S&P 500 climbed 3.49% for the week, putting its year-to-date gain at 5.97%. Some investors returned as buyers in the equity market to help propel gains, believing it had become oversold following its recent declines. Additional data points that revealed better-than-anticipated domestic consumer sentiment readings and housing starts helped the market to rally on Friday, October 17. Strong earnings from

After experiencing only its second annual net outflow in the last ten years in 2013, municipal bond mutual funds have seen investors put money into the group at a consistent pace in 2014.  For the year to date municipal bond mutual funds have positive net flows of $14.2 billion after having $63.5 billion net outflows the year before.  The group currently has a streak of seven consecutive weeks of positive flows and has experienced net inflows in 31 of the 38 weeks this year. Driving this year’s net inflows have been mutual funds in Lipper’s National Municipal Bond fund categories.

For the fund-flows week ended Wednesday, September 24, the Dow Jones Industrial Average managed a small increase during a volatile week of trading. In a week in which there were four trading days of triple-digit moves, the Dow gained 53.21 points overall (+0.32%) to close at 17,210.06. Strong economic news opening and closing the week drove the index to its positive performance. To start the week the market took strength from the Federal Reserve’s statement released after the Fed’s two-day meeting. The Fed reiterated that it is committed to low interest rates long after the quantitative-easing program comes to an end

High Yield mutual funds have had net outflows of approximately $6.5 billion during this summer bringing their year to date net negative flows to almost $11 billion.  This investor sentiment carries over from 2013 during which the group also had overall net outflows of $6.5 billion.  These results come on the heels of a four-year run that saw high yield mutual funds average net inflows of $16.7 billion per year. The group had a four-week run that culminated with the week of August 6 that saw it incur most of its net outflows.  Negative flows totaled over $8.8 billion during

For the fund flows week ended July 30, 2014, the news of mostly positive quarterly corporate earnings and employment reports was tempered by mixed new-housing-sales data, geopolitical uncertainty as economic sanctions were imposed upon Russia, and cautious investor sentiment about current valuation levels and the upcoming release of the GDP report on Wednesday. The GDP report indicated stronger-than-anticipated levels of domestic economic growth at 4%, which helped reassure some stock investors. However, the Federal Reserve’s statement later in the day gave others pause because of its mixed outlook for labor markets and inflation. The S&P 500 rose slightly (+0.02%) on

The equity markets posted gains for the flows week ended July 2, 2014, during a period that began with the S&P 500 posting modest losses as investors continued to look for confirmation of economic growth amid mixed signals. Personal spending for May rose less than anticipated, giving investors pause on the previous Thursday; however, the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index for June was stronger than anticipated on Friday, helping bolster the market. Following a quiet day on Monday, June 30–the close of the second quarter–Tuesday witnessed the S&P 500 climb to a new record high as the market

The Dow Jones Industrial Average experienced volatile trading for the fund-flows week ended Wednesday, May 21st with the Dow witnessing three triple-digit moves during the five trading sessions and closing out the week down 0.5% (-80.91 points) at 16,533.06.   New housing starts soared 13.2% for April to an annual rate of 1.1 million units. The lion’s share of this increase came from multi-family (apartment) starts. (Multi-family starts now account for 39.5% of total new housing starts, marking the highest level since 1985.) The Federal Open Market Committee minutes also made an impact during the week. The Street was looking

The equity markets posted solid gains for the week ended April 2, 2014, during a week that began with modest losses that were followed by the S&P 500’s steady climb and close at a record high. The S&P 500 rose 2.12% for the week, while leaving its year-to-date gain at 2.84%. The NASDAQ Composite declined 2.46% for the week, putting its return at 2.39% for 2014. The period began on a weak note as investors remained mostly on the sidelines, awaiting economic data points to better gauge the level of economic growth. Consumer spending and personal income reports were positive

The equity markets declined slightly for the week ended March 12, 2014, during a week that began with modest gains and the S&P 500 closing at a record high on Friday, followed by modest losses later in the period. The S&P 500 fell 0.24% for the week, while leaving its year-to-date performance still in positive territory at 1.52%. The NASDAQ declined 0.79% for the week, putting its return at 3.51% for 2014. The equity market appeared to be in a holding pattern awaiting confirmation of an uptick in economic growth, following its snapback from late-January/early-February losses. The market rose modestly

For January the European mutual fund industry enjoyed overall net inflows of €23.7 bn for long-term mutual funds. Opposite to the previous month, for January money market products enjoyed net inflows (+€25.2 bn). The net inflows into long-term mutual funds were mainly driven by flows into equity funds (+€12.9 bn) and mixed-asset funds (+€7.0 bn). In addition, bond funds saw net inflows of €5.0 bn. On the other side of the table, alternative/hedge funds (-€0.003 bn) stood nearly flat, while property products (-€0.3 bn) as well as “other” products (-€0.3 bn) and commodity funds (-€0.6 bn) showed moderate net outflows.