Bond Investors Brace for Worst Year in Decades on Hawkish Fed

Global bond investors are facing their worst year at this point in more than two decades after a selloff in September triggered by hawkish statements from central bankers including Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

The Bloomberg Global Aggregate Index, a benchmark for government and corporate debt, has lost 4.1 percent so far this year, the biggest slump for any such period since at least 1999. Comments last month from Powell that the Fed could start scaling back bond buying in November and a move closer by the Bank of England to raising rates triggered a surge in bond yields globally.