Global stocks struggled last week as Wall Street wrapped up its worst month since March 2020 . The MSCI World index declined around 2.4% for all of last week, as Friday capped off a negative month and quarter for all the major averages on Wall Street. Treasury yields also fell back slightly after a volatile week. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury rose to 3.814% on Friday — soaring to a near 14-year high before seeing its steepest inter-day decline since 2020 during Wednesday’s session. Yields and prices move in opposite directions. The policy-sensitive 2-year Treasury yield fell to levels above 4.2% on Friday. The volatility appeared to be good for one of last week’s top-performing global stocks, which was a gold producer. It was New York-listed Canadian gold miner Kinross Gold Corporation , which soared more than 15% over last week. “Gold recorded its best week since mid-August as Treasury yields continued to retreat. Rising geopolitical risks also saw some safe haven buying emerge,” ANZ Research said in a note on Monday morning. Analysts covering this stock were bullish on it, with 65% giving it a buy rating, according to FactSet. They also gave it a price target of $7.82 — or about 50% upside. The top performers last week were two pharmaceutical stocks which rode on the stunning results of their Alzheimer’s drug trial. Biotech firm Biogen and its Japanese partner Eisai said their experimental Alzheimer’s drug dramatically slowed the disease’s progression in a study, reducing cognitive and functional decline by 27%. Both stocks soared over 30% each. Three analysts upgraded Biogen after the announcement. These were the 12 best-performing stocks in the MSCI World index that saw gains of more than 10% last week, as of the close on Sept. 30.
