Every fortnight, MutualFunds.com provides a snapshot of the performance of some key mutual funds which tries to accurately capture the investor interest in specific areas of the financial markets. The report is aimed at providing a quick overview of the sectors, regions and asset classes that moved in a meaningful manner during the last two weeks.

 

• Democratic candidate Joe Biden has been declared the winner of the U.S. presidency by the Associated Press, in a blow to Donald Trump, who hoped to win a second term.

• Across the Atlantic, an abrupt spike in COVID-19 cases has led to the introduction of nationwide lockdowns in a host of countries, including England, France, Italy, and Germany. This has raised fears that a feeble economy will be hit further, putting strains on government budgets. To the bright side, pharmaceutical company Pfizer announced a breakthrough in the creation of a coronavirus vaccine, triggering a market rally on Monday.

• The U.S. Federal Reserve has left interest rates unchanged and reiterated its commitment to keeping its benchmark interest rate low until the economy hits full employment. Chairman Jerome Powell described the increase in COVID-19 cases in many countries as “concerning.”

• The Bank of Japan also left its monetary policy unchanged and cut its growth prediction for 2020 from a decline of 4.7% to 5.5%. However, the central bank believes the economy will post growth of 3.1% in 2021. Even before the coronavirus pandemic, the bank had struggled to reach its inflation goal of 2%, despite years of buying a range of financial assets, including government bonds and exchange-traded funds.

• The Bank of England has initiated a new stimulus package worth 150 billion pounds as the country is grappling with new lockdown measures that are expected to hit businesses and households. The central bank also indicated that it might increase the stimulus package if economic conditions worsen.

• The European Central Bank has left interest rates unchanged at minus 0.5% and maintained its €1.35 trillion bond-buying program, although it warned that further stimulus measures are likely due to downside risks to the economy stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.

• The number of unemployment claims has kept steady in the November 1 week at around 751,000, showing there is still a long way to go before the job market returns to normal. Before the pandemic, unemployment claims were hovering below 300,000.

• The U.S. economy added 638,000 jobs in October, crushing analysts’ expectations of 595,000, although that was still below the prior month’s 672,000. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate declined 1 percentage point to 6.9%, still way above the pre-pandemic level of 3.5%. The only disappointment was average hourly earnings, which rose by 0.1% versus 0.2% growth expected by analysts.

• The U.S. economy grew at an annualized 33.1% in the third quarter, beating estimates of 32%. However, the economic output is down 2.9% from the same quarter last year and fell 9% in the second quarter.

We provide this report on a fortnightly basis. To stay up to date with mutual fund market events, come back to our news page here.

• The broad market has rallied over the two weeks ended November 6 and received a further boost on Monday after Pfizer announced significant progress in the development of a safe and effective coronavirus vaccine.

• Vanguard’s Russell 3000 Index fund (VRTTX) was the best performer from the pack, slightly beating its other peers. The fund was up 1.33%.

• Meanwhile, Vanguard’s small-cap index fund (VSCIX) was the poorest performer, with an advance of just 0.60%.

• Fixed income assets were all up, with the exception of short-term inflation-protected securities.

• Vanguard’s investment-grade bonds fund (VWESX) were by far the best performers, jumping 1.7%.

• Vanguard’s short-term inflation-indexed fund (VTAPX) was the only one to post negative performance, down 0.31%.

• Performance of major sectors was rather mixed.

• T. Rowe’s communications and technology fund (PRMTX) rose 3.16% for the past two weeks, clinching the top performer spot.

• At the same time, Vanguard’s energy sector fund (VGENX) lost 1.93%, becoming the worst performer from the pack.

• Foreign equities were all up.

• Fidelity’s China Fund (FHKCX) surged 4.25% for the past two weeks, representing the best performance from the bunch.

• At the other end of the spectrum was Vanguard’s Europe fund (VEUSX), which appreciated by a little less than 1%.

• Alternative assets posted mixed performance.

• PIMCO’s commodities fund (PCRIX) recorded the worst losses from the pack, down 1.3%.

• PIMCO’s emerging market currencies fund (PLMIX) gained 1.16% over the past two weeks, by far the best performance from the pack.

The broad market has extended a rally after pharmaceutical company Pfizer and BioNTech announced a substantial breakthrough in the creation of a coronavirus vaccine. Investment-grade bonds, Chinese shares, and communication and technology stocks have been among the best performers. Meanwhile, inflation-protected Treasuries, the energy sector and commodities have posted losses.

Be sure to signup for your free newsletter here to receive the most relevant updates.

Fund returns between October 23 and November 6 .