Specialist Patrick King, left, works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024.BANGKOK — as traders sold stocks to help cover rising risks from investments made using cheaply financed funds borrowed mostly in Japanese yen.
They were jolted by a combination of factors, including dread of a possible recession in the United States, the world's largest economy, and worries that technology shares have shot way too high this year. But the scale of the declines was exaggerated by the rush to sell U.S. dollars due to carry trade deals that had helped drive markets to record levels.
Carry trades involve borrowing at low cost in one currency to achieve higher returns from investments in another currency. One of the most recent examples has been to borrow Japanese yen, expecting the currency to remain cheap against the U.S. dollar and for Japanese interest rates to remain low. The borrowed funds would then be invested in U.S. stocks and Treasury bonds in anticipation of a higher return.The key factor behind a carry trade is a difference in interest rates.