For the first time since June, exchange traded funds are dumping their fixed-income holdings in droves ahead a potential December Federal Reserve interest rate hike.
ETF investors yanked $1.2 billion from fixed-income funds in November, Bloomberg reports.
Pushing bond ETF investors out the door, the Federal Reserve is expected to announce its first interest rate hike in over a decade next month. Fed officials in their October statement hinted that it raise benchmark rates in December, and the strong October job numbers only fueled speculation that the central bank would make good on its previous remarks.
According to futures data, the probability the Fed will hike its benchmark by the December 15 to 16 meeting is 68%. based on the assumption the effect fund rate will average 0.375% after liftoff, compared to its current 0% to 0.25% range. [Massive ETF Bets Mount on December Rate Hike]
In a rising interest rates environment, older bond securities with lower yields become less attractive.