Markets mixed as funds pour into bonds and non-US stocks

Markets were mixed on Friday.

The S&P 500 fell 0.2 percent and the Nikkei 225 fell 0.6 percent. However, the STOXX Europe 600 rose 0.2 percent.

Investors were cautious ahead of a possible missile test by North Korea and Hurricane Irma’s arrival on the Florida coast over the weekend.

However, investors had been showing caution throughout the week. Weekly flows into global mutual funds showed that investors have been putting funds into bonds and gold, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch research.

For stocks, investors have moved funds to non-US equities, with the past week marking the 11th out of the past 12 weeks of net outflows for US equities.