Global risk sentiment cooled sharply last week, with equity inflows dropping to just $4.11B, down from $22.27B the week before, according to LSEG Lipper.
Why the pullback?
- ⚠️ Concerns over stretched tech valuations
- 📉 A private report hinting at U.S. job losses in October (official data delayed due to the government shutdown)
- 💥 Sentiment hit further after SoftBank sold $5.83B in Nvidia shares
🌏 Regional Flows
- Asia: +$3.04B (5th straight week of inflows — strongest region)
- U.S.: +$1.15B
- Europe: –$1.87B (investors rotating out)
📊 Sector Flows
- Tech: +$2.59B (but slowest in 4 weeks)
- Healthcare: +$915M
- Industrials: +$326M
📈 Bonds & Safe Havens Surge
- Global bond funds: 30th consecutive week of inflows — $13.11B
- Short-term bonds: 7-week high at $5.77B
- Euro bonds: +$2.31B
- Corporate bonds: +$1.9B
- Gold & metals: +$1.64B after two weeks of outflows
🌱 Emerging Markets
- EM equities: +$2.17B (third week of inflows)
- EM bonds: –$1.45B (third week of outflows)
📌 Takeaway
Investors are rotating toward short-duration debt, gold, and defensive sectors, while scaling back exposure to high-valuation tech names amid uncertainty around U.S. labour strength and policy outlook.