The volatility roller coaster
Over the past three months, markets have struggled to reconcile the sharpest-ever quarter-over-quarter decline in economic activity with the announcement of the largest economic stimulus packages in history, as well as interpreting short-term data and projecting them into long-term trends. The result has been high volatility, and we believe this will likely
continue.
The S&P 500 fell more than six percent in the second week of June and recorded its worst week since March. Many observers blamed Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, for suggesting the economic recovery would be a slow one and pouring cold water on the enthusiasm for a “V-shaped” recovery. They also pointed out that the weekly number of initial jobless claims was discouragingly elevated at 1.5 million, given the U.S. economy had started to reopen a full month earlier. The resurgence of
COVID-19 in a few key U.S. states further frayed nerves.
Market pulse
3 Credit rallies on Fed announcement
3 Canadian economy shows signs of improvement
4 Bank of England extends QE by £100 billion
4 China regulators ask banks to support economy