"Signal to sell": global stocks fall amid investor fatigue and cache shortages

The wave of sell-offs in global markets continued on November 18, with stocks and bitcoin falling as investors get nervous ahead of the Nvidia report. The current dynamics is superimposed on the alarming results of the November Bank of America survey, according to which the level of cash in managers' portfolios fell, which signaled a sell-off of assets.

The MSCI World Index, which tracks the performance of large and mid-cap stocks in developed markets and is a key benchmark for global investors, fell 0.4% on November 18. Asian stocks excluding Japan fell 1.9% to their lowest level since mid-October. Japan's Nikkei 225 index lost 3.2% during the trading session, which has not happened since April.

From Asia, pessimism has spilled over to European stocks - they are falling for the fourth day in a row. Regional index STOXX 600 at the opening of trading collapsed by 1.1%, to the lowest value since November 7. Indices of Europe's largest stock markets - Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 - also fell by more than 1%.

Shares of European manufacturers of equipment for the artificial intelligence sector fell sharply: Siemens Energy fell by 3%, Schneider Electric - by 2%. The capitalization of ABB collapsed by 4% after the company did not raise its revenue growth forecast, disappointing investors, writes Reuters. Contrary to the general trend, quotes of Roche jumped by 6% - the pharmaceutical giant published the results of late-stage clinical trials of a drug for breast cancer.

Bitcoin rate on the crypto exchange Binance fell below $90 thousand. Subsequently, the largest cryptocurrency has recovered some of the losses and is now trading above $91 thousand.

"There is a sense that investor confidence at current levels is waning," Reuters quoted Tarek Horchani, head of Singapore prime brokerage at Maybank Securities, as saying. It's not about any particular trigger, he said, but fatigue with current positioning: investors are wary of high stock valuations and are increasingly inclined to believe the rally needs a pause.

Global investors in November increased investments in stocks and exchange-traded commodities, but they have almost no money left for new purchases, which provoked a "sell signal," Reuters reports, citing the results of a monthly survey of fund managers published on November 18, which is conducted by Bank of America. A record 63% of respondents believe equity markets are currently overvalued. Positioning in the technology sector remains overly concentrated, with 54% of respondents citing buying shares of the Magnificent Seven as the most massive trade.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor