Investment-grade bonds in the U.S. are underperforming equities by the most in 15 months as speculation rises that the time is ripe to rotate out of debt and into stocks.
The notes, which have lost 0.1 percent since the end of October after gaining 56 percent from the start of 2009, are lagging behind the Standard & Poor’s 500 index by 4.3 percentage points in January, the most since October 2011.
Investors yanked $5.5 billion from funds that invest in the bonds in the six weeks ended Jan. 9 while pouring $47.6 billion into equities, according to research firm EPFR Global in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
