BEAR markets are triggered, by convention, when share prices fall by more than 20%. So the widespread stockmarket declines on January 20th took Tokyo’s Nikkei 225, London’s FTSE 100 and France’s CAC-40 into bear-market territory (see chart), since all had declined at least that much since their highs of last year. Mind you, another old saw is that bear markets do not end until prices pass their previous peak; on that measure, the Nikkei 225, which is less than half its 1989 high, is still caught in a 26-year-long bear run.
The rich world is not alone in its ursine infestation. China’s CSI 300 index is more than 40% below last year’s high. The FTSE All-World Index, having breached the 20% mark, ended down 19% on January 20th. Indeed New York, although hit hard that day (the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 500 points at one stage, before rebounding a bit), is one of the few big markets not to have entered...Continue reading
Source: Business and finance http://ift.tt/1T85NQm
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