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Market week: Stock indexes ease back on the week

Published on 02-19-2021

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Concerns over rise in U.S. Treasury bond yields

 

With concerns about rising U.S. Treasury note yields affecting riskier assets like equities down the road, stock markets lost some steam last week, closing below breakeven for the week. The yield on the benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury note crept up to 1.34% on Friday, from 1.21% a week ago. Still, continuing optimism about the Biden Adminstration’s US$1.9 trillion pandemic relief bill making it through Congress by the end of February, growing Covid vaccination momentum, and dropping Covid case counts helped keep markets from sinking even further.

The S&P 500 Composite Index retreated 0.7% on the week, while the Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 1.6%. Toronto’s benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index edged down 0.4% on the week, as crude oil fell 1.2% and gold slipped 2.3%, for a year-to-date loss of 5.9%.

Monitor the main stock and commodity indexes daily with the Fund Library’s interactive Markets Page.

Fund news

* Invesco changes fund names and objectives. Invesco Canada Ltd. announced on Feb. 19 that its Invesco Global Endeavour Fund will be renamed Invesco Global Focus Fund, and its objective will change its focus from global mid-cap stocks to a broader spectrum of global equities.

In addition, Invesco Global Small Companies Class will be renamed the Invesco Global Opportunities Class, with its objective changing from a tight focus on small cap stocks to a broader range that also includes mid-cap stocks.

The changes are expected to take effect on May 3, subject to approvals.

* BMO launches new bond ETF with ESG focus. BMO Asset Management on Feb. 18 launched its new BMO ESG High Yield US Corporate Bond Index ETF (TSX: ESGH), which tracks the Bloomberg Barclays MSCI US High Yield Liquid Corporate Sustainability SRI Index. The fund is also available in hedged units.

* Dynamic launches new international stock fund. Dynamic Funds announced on Feb. 16 the launch of its Dynamic International Discovery Fund, an actively-managed international equity fund designed to give investors access to high-quality companies in their respective markets around the world. The fund invests mostly in stocks of companies located outside the U.S. and Canada. It is managed by Dynamic Vice-President and Senior Portfolio Manager David Fingold.

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