Asia markets higher; China releases inflation data

According to Morgan Stanley, now is a good time to buy gold stocks.

Tensions in the Middle East brought on by the Israel-Hamas war have triggered a rise in gold’s “safe haven” as investment in the precious metal increases. The rally has since subsided, with spot gold prices up about 0.05% year-to-date.

Notably, however, gold stocks have underperformed the gold price by about 20% over the past three months, analysts at the investment bank said, naming several stocks that represent “great opportunities.” .

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— Amara Balakrishna

The bond bear market is the worst in more than 200 years, according to BNP Paribas’ global chief investment officer.

But he said one corner of the bond market is an opportunity for investors: America’s “fallen angels” in the high-yield credit sector.

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— Tan Weizhen

While October was tough for the major stock averages, Bank of America said it was at least a relatively good month for stock pickers, despite shrinking allocations to active strategies.

About 68% of large-cap active managers outperformed their average for the month, well above typical levels. As a result, the year-to-date beat rate was 41%, higher than the average of 38%. The average large-cap active fund fell 1.9%, while the benchmark fell 2.5%.

However, investors have reduced their allocations to active funds, which are now down to 47% of total assets under management. Savita Subramanian, equity and quantitative strategist at Bank of America, said managers are “following the benchmark” as confidence in the market direction wanes.

Both value managers and core managers also had strong months, posting beat rates of 84% and 80%, respectively.

— Jeff Cox

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances fell last week from 7.86% to 7.61%, the largest single-week decline in a year.

Amid the pullback, total mortgage applications rose 2.5% from a year ago last week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index.

— Diana Orrick, Samantha Subin

The energy complex continued its decline throughout the day Wednesday, with benchmark December RBOB gasoline futures falling to $2.1220 a gallon, the lowest since Dec. 16, 2022.

On the oil front, December West Texas Intermediate contract hit an intraday low of $74.91 per barrel, while January Brent contract hit a low of $79.20 per barrel, both the lowest since July 20. It became.

The S&P 500 Energy Index was among the hardest-hit stock groups on Wednesday, falling 0.9% in late intraday trading and falling nearly 9% so far in the fourth quarter, with 11 major S&P 500 sectors falling 0.9% in late intraday trading. This was the worst decline of all.

Brent crude oil futures fell by $2.07 (2.54%) to settle at $79.54 per barrel. US crude oil fell $2.04, or 2.64%, to settle at $75.33.

— Scott Schnipper, Christopher Hayes