U.S. Treasury Outflow a Strong Sign of Investor Confidence

An outflow of United States Treasury Funds happened last week for the first time in 9 months as investors started to jump into the stock market again.

More than $1 billion flowed out of the conservative investment as the investors grew more optimistic after indications that inflation was slowing.

Investors turned to the equity markets instead, with a net inflow of more than $22 billion. Outflows of gold was also substantial according to a Bank of America survey, a traditionally conservative investment that is perceived to have low correlation with markets.

New business for banks through lending is not expected to increase in the near term, but signs that interest rate cuts may be coming in the first half of 2024 may help the real estate market with transactions and thus prop up the lending business.