WHETHER we get an entrenched spiral or just an ephemeral price burst, a Spring of hair-raising inflation anxiety is proving notoriously hard for markets to price.
Spooked by a backup in long-term borrowing rates over the past month, which the Federal Reserve (Fed) appears relaxed about despite protests from other central banks, investors have engaged in another dizzying and somewhat confusing rotation of stocks, sectors, regions and currencies this month.
It’s seen another swoon in expensive lockdown stars of the tech sector in favour of beaten down “value” stocks in the energy, banking, industrials and even retail and travel sectors, as vaccine rollouts and monster US government stimulus spur bets on a rapid and steep economic recovery.
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