Global stocks sank for a sixth consecutive week as the threat of a US recession added to the fears of investors who were grappling with rampant inflation, coronavirus lockdowns in China, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The FTSE All-World index is on its longest weekly losing streak since the middle of 2008, equalling in duration the decline before the subprime mortgage crisis led to the catastrophic collapse of Lehman Brothers. A late bounce on Friday was insufficient to offset a brutal sell-off earlier in the week.
The index dropped 2.2 percent this week, while the US benchmark S&P 500 index fell 2.4 percent and the tech-dominated Nasdaq Composite slid 2.8 percent.
Friday’s rebound meant the S&P 500 narrowly avoided falling into a formal bear market, when an index declines 20 percent from its recent highs. But few investors were prepared to call an end to the recent volatility.
“When movements are this erratic, it’s really dangerous to try to put on your market timer hat and play that game,” said Matt Stucky, a portfolio manager at Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management, which manages $237bn. “Really, it’s going to boil down to whether or not the US economy is in recession a year from now.”
US stocks suffer sixth consecutive week of losses.