2025-01-08 17:27
LONDON, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Mulvaney Capital Management returned 82.97% in 2024, up from a 51.22% result in 2023, according to an investor letter seen by Reuters on Wednesday. Mulvaney, which oversees $352 million in assets, trades in futures and financial markets globally, including smaller commodity markets the letter said. Cocoa and coffee closed 2024 , opens new tab as the biggest gainers among commodities for a second year on a global supply deficit. Managed futures funds, returned 1.9% for 2024 to the end of November, according to hedge fund research firm PivotalPath. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/mulvaney-capital-management-returned-8297-2024-investor-letter-says-2025-01-08/
2025-01-08 17:18
LONDON, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Credit manager Sona Asset Management returned 18.76% in its Credit Master Fund in 2024, benefiting from a surge in European companies needing to refinance their debt, an investor letter seen by Reuters on Wednesday showed. This is the $10.1 billion manager's fifth year of double digit returns in its key fund. In 2024, its capital solutions strategy posted returns in different funds of between 15.6% and 19.7%. The firm's collateralized loan obligations (CLOs) platform continued to perform in the top quartile of CLOs ranked by Deutsche Bank. These did not have specific annual percentage returns mentioned in the letter. Investment firms that provide financing to companies in exchange for interest payments saw loan issuance nearly three times 2023 levels, while companies seeking to offer junk bonds increased by 100%, the letter said, citing research from Barclays. This influx in volume and increased bank competition led to some deals being mispriced and needing 'strategic support,' said the letter. Sona, which takes both long and short positions, said this contributed to the hedge fund's success. Sona took advantage of private credit deals - particularly companies that were given money in 2022 and 2023, re-classed as riskier and refinance in public markets rather than return to private investors, the letter said. They did not name any specific deals. Europe's historical under-spend on defence might benefit some companies in 2025, the letter said, without naming which companies it was interested in. Other sectors of interest this year include auto suppliers, real estate companies which will need to borrow at higher rates, debt collectors, UK water companies, energy, satellite companies and finance. They are still optimistic about Europe, however. "There is a path away from this morass. The prospect for peace has grown and the potential for policy to improve and alter course is there," it said, referring to the potential for an end to the war in Ukraine. (This story has been corrected to clarify that the company benefited from conditions in private credit, not the hedge fund, in paragraph 8) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/sona-asset-management-returns-over-18-european-debt-markets-letter-says-2025-01-08/
2025-01-08 13:11
BRASILIA, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Brazilians in 2024 withdrew more from savings accounts than they deposited for a fourth straight year, although the outflow fell significantly, central bank data showed on Wednesday. Net withdrawals of 15.5 billion reais ($2.5 billion) were down from 87.8 billion reais in 2023, 103.2 billion in 2022, and 35.5 billion in 2021. In December, traditionally a positive month for savings, a net inflow of 4.9 billion reais was the smallest December inflow since 2015. Savings accounts serve as a key funding source for real estate credit in Brazil, and the central bank has long been exploring potential changes , opens new tab to their remuneration as typically during periods of higher interest rates other fixed-income investments become more attractive, driving withdrawals. Brazil's benchmark interest rate ended 2024 at 12.25%, up from 11.75% at the start of the year, as policymakers tightened borrowing costs to curb inflationary pressures fueled by robust economic activity and a weakened currency. ($1 = 6.1291 reais) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/brazils-savings-withdrawals-outpace-deposits-fourth-straight-year-2025-01-08/
2025-01-08 12:48
STOXX 600 down 0.7% this month, outperforming 3% S&P 500 fall European equity funds see first weekly inflow since October Low valuations, Trump uncertainties aid European stocks LONDON, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Beaten-down European stocks are luring investors back after a record underperformance versus Wall Street in 2024, as fears about U.S. economic shocks under incoming President Donald Trump boost the appeal of international markets. Amundi, Europe's largest investor, said on Wednesday it had "turned constructive on Europe" because the effect of trade war fears on valuations was exaggerated. Funds that invest in European equities have also just recorded their first weekly net inflow since October, Lipper data showed, after several big banks this week tipped the market for a 2025 turnaround. The STOXX 600 (.STOXX) , opens new tab index of blue-chip European shares has lost 0.7% this month but outperformed the U.S. S&P 500 (.SPX) , opens new tab, which has dropped nearly 3% on fading hopes for U.S. interest rate cuts and policy uncertainty. Barclays on Wednesday said the European market's "risk-reward" profile was improving, citing "emerging anxiety around Trumponomics". Deutsche Bank and Citi this week forecast double-digit returns for the STOXX this year, while Goldman Sachs said the market's lowly-valued companies were likely takeover targets. The STOXX 600 ended 2024 at its biggest discount to the S&P on record, LSEG data showed, as investors flocked to so-called "Trump trades" that bet his policies will lift most U.S. assets. "There's room to take the other side of that trade and one of the main beneficiaries will be international markets," Baird strategist Ross Mayfield said, arguing policy shocks would weaken the dollar and boost U.S. investors' interest in euro-denominated assets. Investors are growing increasingly concerned about tariffs refueling U.S. inflation and prompting the Federal Reserve to hike rates, Bank of America said following its most recent survey of global fund managers. Conflicting reports about Trump's tariff plans drove the U.S. currency sharply lower on Monday and left investors braced for more U.S. market swings. "I've moved from really disliking international markets to saying I think there is a diversification benefit," Raymond James Investment Management chief market strategist Matt Orton said. Cheaply-valued European banks, he said, were now "very attractive", while he also favoured the region's aerospace and defence stocks. The revival in interest in European stocks follows months of gloom as French and German politics plunged into chaos and tariff threats pressure euro zone exporters. The euro zone economy remains weak, but after four European Central Bank rate cuts last year a long-term decline in euro zone business activity has eased. "We should have (had) the trough in the euro zone," Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management portfolio manager Marie de Leyssac said. A European market rebound in 2025 was likely given last year's "extreme underperformance", she added. Janus Henderson multi-asset fund manager Oliver Blackbourn said he was not yet buying into European stocks, but had also become nervous about heady Wall Street valuations. "If we do see more improvements in European economic data then we'd get more positive pretty quickly," he said Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/beaten-down-european-stocks-lure-investors-back-trump-trades-wobble-2025-01-08/
2025-01-08 12:47
TSX ends up 0.5% at 25,051.68 Technology rises 1.8% Materials group adds 1.7% Jan 8 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index ended higher on Wednesday, led by gains for technology and metal mining shares, as investors set aside recent caution that has been driven in part by rising prospects of U.S. trade tariffs. The S&P/TSX composite index (.GSPTSE) , opens new tab ended up 121.79 points, or 0.5%, at 25,051.68, after two straight days of declines. It outperformed major U.S. indices which tend to have a higher weighting in high-flying technology companies. "It's encouraging for Canada because sentiment towards Canada has been cautious to say the least for quite some time," said Colin Cieszynski, chief market strategist at SIA Wealth Management. "It's nice to see that perhaps some of the pressure on Canada might be starting to ease a bit." A report said that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is considering declaring a national economic emergency to provide legal justification for a series of universal tariffs on allies and adversaries. Previously, Trump has threatened to impose a 25% tariff on imports from Canada. The U.S. 10-year yield rose to its highest since April on concerns that policies such as trade tariffs could reignite inflation. The Toronto market's technology sector rose 1.8%, clawing back some of the previous day's sharp decline. Gains were led by electronics firm Celestica Inc (CLS.TO) , opens new tab, which ended 4.6% higher. The materials group, which includes fertilizer companies and metal mining shares, added 1.7% as gold and copper prices rose. Shares of gold producer K92 Mining (KNT.TO) , opens new tab jumped nearly 16% after the company reported record quarterly production. Heavily weighted financials added 0.6%, while energy ended near flat as oil settled 1.25% lower at $73.32 a barrel, giving back some of its recent gains. U.S. crude oil imports from Canada rose last week to the highest on record, data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed, ahead of expected trade tariffs. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/tsx-futures-flat-after-report-trumps-plan-new-tariffs-2025-01-08/
2025-01-08 12:36
LUSAKA, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Zambia's kwacha has hit a series of record lows since the start of the year as a severe drought keeps the pressure firmly on the copper-producing Southern African country's economy. Analysts had hoped Zambia's emergence from default early last year would have helped sentiment, but the currency is now roughly 3% below where it was before its debt restructuring deal and has fallen nearly 15% over the last six months. At the close of Wednesday's trading session, the kwacha stood at a new record low of 28.13 per dollar, according to LSEG. "In a local market like this one, some big payments for imported electricity, or similar, could easily drive the ZMW," said Charlie Robertson, head of macro strategy at FIM Partners. The strained electricity supply was forcing mining companies to cut production of copper, which is a key hard currency earner, Access Bank Zambia said in a research note. The severe effects of El Niño caused the worst dry spell in southern Africa in a century last year, devastating crop production and forcing Zambia's authorities to cut electricity generation on the Kariba dam, the biggest source of electricity. "The amount of water available for hydropower generation remains insufficient for sustainable operations, especially given the unpredictable nature of regional rainfall patterns," state power firm Zesco said on Tuesday. The kwacha plunged when Zambia defaulted on $11 billion worth of external debt in November 2020, but saw a brief 20% jump last February when it became clear its restructuring efforts were going to be successful. One financial analyst in Lusaka said some companies had sold dollars during Wednesday's session in preparation for local tax payments next week, offering some support to the kwacha. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/zambias-currency-stuck-record-low-drought-persists-2025-01-08/
