Are US equities about to get a boost from a surprising source?

The Bank of Israel this month joined the Swiss National Bank and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority in investing in US stocks, initially setting aside 2 per cent of its $77bn reserves stockpile into share indices.

However, even though the amount could eventually climb to 10 per cent of its reserves, this hardly the sort of news that will move a market as big as US equities, for which $7.7 billion is small change.

But if other central banks, which collectively manage $10.7trn-worth of reserves, follow suit, then the impact could be significant.  Read more