Date: 6th February 2018
Six weeks into 2018 the principal indexes around the globe went into freefall, following a global sell-off in stock markets. The table below shows the changes (?%) between the closing prices of the indexes over the course of one day.
Some look at the US markets for the cause, where a ‘wage growth in the US jumping to 2.9pc’ caused analysts to think that the US Federal Reserve will raise interest rates sooner than expected (here and here). Others consider it a chain reaction to developments in debt securities markets, with view on a yield increase in bonds (here). Most sources, however, seem to indicate that the cause of the price-drop in the main U.S. SEs (here, here and here) is a combination of a chain reaction to U.S. indexes changes, an increase in bond yields and fear of inflation.