Major benchmarks for the US, Europe and Asia have avoided declines of 5% or more so far this year, a feat that hasn’t continued so far into a year in almost 25 years.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the S&P 500, MSCI Europe and MSCI Asia-Pacific ex-Japan have not together gone a calendar year without recording a drop of 5% in 30 years. Whether stocks are seeing a good year or bad, fluctuations are the norm, but this year is different, as Volatility clings to historically low levels, finishing Friday at its lowest level since 1993.