Street Calls of the Week
Investing.com -- Money market funds attracted the majority of investment flows in the past week, with their assets reaching $7.4 trillion, according to Bank of America.
Cash funds drew $72.9 billion, while bonds attracted $25.6 billion, stocks $20 billion, crypto $5.5 billion, and gold $2.1 billion for the week ended October 8, BofA reported, citing EPFR Global data.
XAU/USD experienced its smallest inflows in three weeks, while crypto saw its largest inflow in 12 weeks.
Strategists led by Michael Hartnett noted that bank loans had their largest inflow in 13 weeks at $1.4 billion, which they described as a notable first sign that rate optimism is peaking.
Hartnett said that few investors are structurally positioned in gold, while factors such as anticipation of a new Federal Reserve Chair, boom/bubble policies, and potential gold revaluation similar to events in 1934 and 1973 all favor what they term a "debasement trade."
"History no guide to future, but avg gold jump past 4 bull markets ≈ 300% in 43 months which would imply gold reaching $6,000 by spring next year," Hartnett wrote.
Elsewhere, Materials sector funds recorded historic weekly inflows of $7.6 billion, putting annualized year-to-date inflows at a record $79 billion.
Healthcare funds received their biggest inflow since April 2023 at $1.5 billion, while Financials experienced their first outflow in seven weeks at $200 million.
By region, U.S. stocks experienced their fourth consecutive week of inflows at $14.2 billion while European stocks saw their first outflow in three weeks at $300 million.
Emerging market stocks had their eighth straight week of inflows at $500 million, and Japanese stocks recorded their first outflow after six weeks of inflows at $3 billion.