Monthly Market Update (August 2023): 3 Things You Need to Know

Most global assets were down on the month. The general weakness in the month came from a few different angles. Here are 3 things you need to know:

1. 10-yr. U.S. Treasury yields hit their highest level (4.36%) since 2007 driven partially by a larger-than-expected Treasury supply announcement.
2. Fitch downgraded U.S. government debt from AAA to AA+.
3. China’s property crisis is rippling through its economy. Chinese economic growth slid to 0.8% over the previous quarter in the three months ending June from the January-March quarter’s 2.2%. Exports have contracted and retail spending is weak.

Sources: J.P. Morgan Asset Management – Economic Update; Bureau of Economic Analysis (www.bea.gov); Bureau of Labor Statistics (www.bls.gov); Federal Open Market Committee (www.federalreserve.gov); Bloomberg; FactSet.

Indices:

• The Bloomberg Barclays Aggregate Bond Index is a broad-based index used as a proxy for the U.S. bond market. Total return quoted.
• The S&P 500 is designed to be a leading indicator of U.S. equities and is commonly used as a proxy for the U.S. stock market. Price return quoted.
• The MSCI ACWI ex-US Index captures large and mid-cap representation across 22 of 23 developed market countries (excluding the U.S.) and 27 emerging market countries.  The index covers approximately 85% of the global equity opportunity set outside the U.S. Price return quoted.
• The MSCI Emerging Markets Index captures large and mid-cap segments in 26 emerging markets. Price return quoted (USD).

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