Wall Street Today: U.S. stock market faces risk of bumpy autumn, analysts warn

Asian stocks look set to dip Monday as the risk of a slower economic recovery from the pandemic amid elevated inflation saps sentiment.

Futures fell in Japan, Australia and Hong Kong, while U.S. contracts edged up. The S&P 500 last week dropped the most since mid-June on investor caution over the challenges for economic reopening from the delta virus strain.

Back-to-school season has stock sellers tapping market in droves
Global equity capital markets are firing on all cylinders, with a raft of listings and billions of dollars in stake sales hitting traders' screens this week, as sellers rush to take advantage of buoyant prices while they can.

September traditionally marks the start of the fall window for stock offerings, and the month is off to its busiest start globally since 2012, with nearly $40 billion of deals priced last week alone, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Initial public offerings worth billions more are in the market, looking for takers.

Global capex booms as companies prepare for post-pandemic era
Global companies from noodle makers to semiconductor giants are spending on new plants and machinery in ways they haven't done for years.

Globally, corporate capital expenditure, or capex, will jump by 13% this year, according to S&P Global Ratings, with growth in all regions and broad sectors -- especially in semiconductors, retail, software and transportation. Economists at Morgan Stanley forecast that global investment will reach 115% and 121% of pre-recession levels by the end of 2021 and end of 2022, a much faster recovery than previous downturns.

U.S. stock market faces risk of bumpy autumn, Wall Street analysts warn
After a record-breaking bull run for the U.S. stock market this year, many Wall Street analysts are starting to warn that investors could be in for a bumpy ride in the coming weeks and months.

Analysts at firms including Morgan Stanley, Citigroup Inc., Deutsche Bank AG and Bank of America Corp. published notes this month cautioning about current risks in the U.S. equity market. With the S&P 500 already hitting 54 records this year through Thursday—the most during that period since 1995—several analysts said that they believe there is a growing possibility of a pullback or, at the least, flatter returns.

Southeast Asia's start-ups are moving with caution amid IPO frenzy, venture capitalist says
Appetite for Southeast Asia's start-ups is growing, but that hunger could remain unsated for some time, according to one of the region's early-stage venture capital firms. Southeast Asia has been the subject of an investing frenzy in 2021, attracting a reported $6 billion in Q1. IPO announcements from Grab, GoTo and Bukalapak have sparked new confidence in the region.

Vinnie Lauria of Golden Gate Ventures told CNBC that several companies in his portfolio have turned down or deferred various offers to go public.

ETF inflows shoot past 2020's full-year record total
Inflows into exchange traded funds have surged past 2020's record total globally as enthusiasm for the low-cost vehicles accelerates, prompting growing numbers of traditional fund managers to launch their own ETFs.

Worldwide net investor inflows reached $834.2bn at the end of August, already surpassing the last year's total of $762.8bn. Rising markets and investments helped global assets held in ETFs to balloon to $9.7tn, more than double the $4.8tn managed in the funds and products at the end of 2018, according to the data provider ETFGI.

Facebook to buy $100 million worth of unpaid invoices from 30,000 small businesses owned by women and minorities
Facebook announced a $100-million commitment to a program that supports small businesses owned by women and minorities by buying up their outstanding invoices. By buying up outstanding invoices, the Facebook Invoice Fast Track program puts money in the hands of small businesses that would have otherwise had to wait weeks if not months to get paid by their customers.

Facebook estimates the program will support approximately 30,000 small businesses.

British fintechs are jumping into the booming buy now, pay later market
Monzo and Revolut, two of Britain's best-known financial technology firms, are planning to enter the booming "buy now, pay later" industry. BNPL plans let users spread the cost of their purchases over a series of interest-free instalments.

Revolut, a digital banking and trading app, was recently valued at $33 billlion following an $800 million funding round led by SoftBank and Tiger Global. Monzo is a regulated bank in the U.K. Monzo is smaller in size than Revolut, with 5 million customers and a £1.25 billion ($1.7 billion) valuation. Revolut says it now has more than 15 million users.

Source: Bloomberg, WSJ,CNBC, Financial Times