Equity markets continued to rally in February on a steady flow of reports that U.S.-China trade negotiations were progressing well. Sentiment is good, but we are cautious because the markets are very overbought and any adverse news could cause a sharp decline.
The strong rebound in January strengthens our view that the extremely sharp downward moves of the last quarter were part of a correction phase within a secular bull market rather than the start of a bear market.
This will be the worst December since 1931. Last week was the worst week for the S&P 500 since October 2008. The roughly 18% loss for this last quarter ranks among the worst seven quarters since 1940. This extremely sharp downturn has been baffling.
Equity markets continued to be volatile in November as attempts at a rally continue to get challenged by pressure from heavy selling. However, the bears were unable to force another leg to the downside since the markets are oversold.
A selling stampede hit global equities this month, resulting in the worst loss in October in a decade for U.S. and Canadian equity indices.
The U.S. equity markets saw a great deal of rotational activity in September which resulted in some indices setting new highs while others languished, including the Canadian market, which generally drifted lower with the uncertainty over NAFTA.
North American equity markets showed resilience in August. Downdrafts on bad news were well contained while upswings on good news pushed indices back to all-time high territory.
Equity markets were choppy this month as sentiment vacillated between fundamentally bullish conditions and politically charged trade tensions.
A promising rally early in the month was derailed by escalating trade tensions.
Equity markets started to push higher in May and although the tone is still somewhat sluggish, it bodes well for a possible move back to the highs during the summer.
