Investors caught off-guard in surprise bond rally
Most affected were investors who expected September's losses to spell the start of the long-awaited bear market in bonds.
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WHAT a difference a month makes in the bond market.
After suffering their first losing month this year in September, fixed-income securities of all types worldwide are back on track in October to deliver their biggest annual returns since 2002, based on Bank of America Merrill Lynch indexes. Yields fell to an average 1.62 per cent on Thursday, down from 2.09 per cent at the end of 2013 and the lowest in 17 months.
Investors betting that September's losses were the start of the long-awaited bear market in bonds were caught off guard this week by a string of developments worldwide that suddenly put in doubt notions that the United States Federal Reserve would raise interest rates sooner rather than later. Those range from new signs of potential deflation in Europe to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) cutting its global economic forecasts and the Fed warning that the strong dollar may curb growth in the US and elsewhere.
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