September 2024

A ‘growth scare’ spurs a (brief)
bout of market volatility

Global equity gained on the month (+2.6%), but it was anything but smooth sailing as US growth concerns sparked a sell-off at the start of the month. The S&P 500 declined ~6% in early August but recovered to post a monthly gain (+2.4%). However, the Nasdaq was hit harder and only eked out a slight gain (+0.7%) on the month. The strengthening Japanese Yen spurred a strong pullback in Japanese equities, but as volatility eased, the market recovered most of its losses. Fixed income gained as key rates moved lower and expectations for near-term rate cuts increased. US 10-year yields plummeted from above 4% to an intraday low of 3.7% but trended higher to end the month ~3.9%. The US yield curve (“2s10s”) un-inverted, the first time since mid-2022, and is now roughly flat. .

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