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U.S. equities climbed 2.2% to new highs following better-than-expected U.S. earnings and a strong October employment report.

The Fed announced a widely expected third rate cut given the mixed economic data, but also indicated a pause on further cuts. European equities increased 0.9% as the U.S. imposed new tariffs on EU goods and the ECB left rates unchanged.

Japanese equities rallied 5.4% in conjunction with global stock markets, while the BOJ announced rates will stay at current or lower levels as long as needed.

The improvement in U.S.-China trade sentiment also broadly supported emerging market equities,7 which rose 4.2% over the month despite idiosyncratic political unrest.

In Brazil, stocks rose 2.4% as the Brazilian real reform. In China, despite weak economic data, local rallied, boosted by optimism over pension equities climbed 0.8%.

The better performing sectors were Healthcare (+5.22%), Information Technology (+4.94%) and Telecommunication Services (+3.29%). While underperforming sectors were Energy (-0.34%), Utilities (-0.98%) and Consumer Staples (-0.40%).

For the month, global equities showed a rising trend across different regions. The MSCI ACWI Index increased +2.64% (+17.28% YTD) and the MSCI EAFE Index increased +3.50% (+13.80% YTD). The MSCI Emerging Market Index increased +4.09% for the month (+7.89% YTD), while hedge fund managers did not outperform the index.

The Barclays Aggregate Bond Index increased +0.30% for the month (+8.86% YTD) as interest rates decreased for the month. The Merrill Lynch High Yield Master II Index increased 3.23% for the month, and high yield spreads increased 13 basis points to end the month 415 basis points over treasuries.

Fixed income managers were positive for the month with the 10-Year U.S. Treasury ending the month at +1.69%, up 1 basis point from +1.68% in the previous month. WTI oil decreased by -0.13% in October while natural gas increased by +15.19%.