US bond ETFs are having a moment: Investors are bullish on specialized bond-focused exchange-traded funds (ETFs), with increased investor appetite since January, potentially propelling the industry to its first USD 1 tn annual windfall, the Financial Times reports, citing data from US ETF issuer State Street Global Advisors. US ETFs raised over USD 80 bn in June alone, and USD 411 bn throughout 1H 2024 and putting it on track to potentially beat its previous record of USD 911 bn in 2021.

Actively managed ETFs are largely to thank for the record inflows: Actively managed fixed-income ETFs alone took in some USD 7 bn in June and USD 41 bn over the first half of 2024, surpassing the USD 33 bn peak in 2023. These types of ETFs are becoming more attractive as actively managed mutual funds continue to see disappointing returns.

The momentum is only accelerating as funds establish longer track records, drawing more interest from investors, including young retail investors, an analyst told FT. It can be propelled even further by interest rate cuts from the US Federal Reserve later this year.

MARKETS THIS MORNING-

It’s a mixed story for Asian markets, with the Nikkei hitting yet another fresh high while the broad-based Topix index slipped 0.15% as of dispatch time. South Korea’s Kospi is also higher, while China’s CSI300 is down 0.44%.

ADX

9,126

+0.4% (YTD: -4.7%)

DFM

4,066

-0.3% (YTD: +0.2%)

Nasdaq Dubai UAE20

3,488

-0.4% (YTD: -9.2%)

USD : AED CBUAE

Buy 3.67

Sell 3.67

EIBOR

4.9% o/n

5.4% 1 yr

TASI

11,659

+0.6% (YTD: -2.58%)

EGX30

28,364

+0.7% (YTD: +13.9%)

S&P 500

5,537

+0.5% (YTD: +16.1%)

FTSE 100

8,241

+0.9% (YTD: +6.6%)

Euro Stoxx 50

4,988

+0.4% (YTD: 10.3%)

Brent crude

USD 87.4

+0.1%

Natural gas (Nymex)

USD 2.4

-1.5%

Gold

USD 2,365.3

-0.2%

BTC

USD 56,878.67

-2.47% (YTD: +28.6%)

THE CLOSING BELL-

The ADX rose 0.4% yesterday on turnover of AED 913.1 mn. The index is down 4.7% YTD.

In the green: Agility Global (+7.8%), Oman and Emirates Investment Holding (+5%), and Chimera (+3.6%).

In the red: National Bank of Umm Al Qaiwain (-8.3%), Al Buhaira National Insurance (-6.7%) and Sudatel Telecom Group (-6.3%).

Over on the DFM, the index fell 0.3% on turnover of AED 327.2 mn. Meanwhile Nasdaq Dubai closed down 0.4%.

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