The Go Global trade continues to work; August has not interrupted it. Asia's AI-linked stock markets are back in the performance-derby lead after July's shakeout, and the other emerging markets that led this year are leading again.
Last week's action was in bonds. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent doubled the Treasury's buyback program for longer-dated debt, lifting repurchases to at least $4 billion per operation from September through November and telling CNBC that the size could go higher if liquidity stays poor.
So far, the global equity rally has absorbed the rout in the bond market, which suggests that investors read higher yields as evidence of economic growth rather than a threat to it.
Here's more:
I. Stay Home vs Go Global. South Africa leads the mtd rankings at 14.0% in US dollar terms, with South Korea at 13.5% and Taiwan at 8.0% (chart). EM ex-China is up 6.2%, ahead of the ACWX at 3.6%, the ACWI at 2.8%, and the US at 2.5%. Brazil brings up the rear at -4.3%.
The US-to-ROW (rest of world) MSCI ratios (in dollars and in local currencies) remain in intermediate downtrends that started in early 2025 (chart).
