Hedge funds posted their biggest gains in four months in July as a rally in equity, commodity and bond markets contributed to positive performances across all regions, according to Eurekahedge Pte. Ltd.
The Eurekahedge Hedge Fund Index, which measures the performance of more than 2,000 funds worldwide, rose 1.42% in the month, its biggest gain since March, the Singapore fund-tracking company said on Tuesday. The index climbed 1.17% in the first seven months of the year.
Hedge funds snapped two straight months of declines as they tracked global stock advances that followed better-than-expected earnings and the publication of bank stress test results in Europe. The MSCI World Index jumped 8% in July, the biggest gain in a year.
All seven regional indexes advanced, the preliminary report showed. The measure tracking Asian hedge funds gained the most, at 3.56%.
Hedge funds in North America rose 1.54% in the month, and those in Europe went up 1.51%, Eurekahedge said.
By strategy, event-driven funds and long-short funds that trade on rising and falling stock prices were the best performers in July, gaining 2.67% and 2.03%, respectively.
Eurekahedge's preliminary report is based on 35% of funds reporting their July performance.
The research firm plans to release a full report on Aug. 17.
The index advanced 19.7% last year, its best performance since 2003; it had fallen 11.1 % in 2008.
