The new year began on a positive note, with markets carrying the vaccine inspired optimism of late last year into most of January, before running out of steam in the latter part of the month. Post the inauguration of President Biden investors took stock of events and ultimately concluded that many markets had run too far ahead of themselves. Buying enthusiasm began to wane and profit taking became the dominant feature of the last trading week, a process that was widespread and strong enough to tip most indices into the red for the month as a whole.
“The new year began on a positive note, with markets carrying the vaccine inspired optimism of late last year into most of January, “
The signs that markets where perhaps overbought in relation to reality had been around for a while. Many headlines were generated about the influence in retail investors in everything from smaller company technology shares, to crypto currencies, to gold and silver prices. Whilst retail over exuberance is nothing new, it did serve to highlight to us just how noisy markets had become, leaving prices vulnerable to a setback, should anything more substantive emerge to drive sentiment. In the end there wasn’t a particular catalyst for the retreat, just a gradual petering out of upward momentum in the absence of additional positive news.
The key negative of the month was probably the recognition that the ramp up in vaccine manufacturing really will take time and although the UK is off to a good start, most other Western nations are not. Political leaders are also still very reluctant to take the brakes off lockdowns and the difficulties of collating accurate economic data means that investors are guessing more than usual when they try to price markets for future outcomes. Given the amount of stimulus and support already in the financial system, there is some justified scepticism around how much more could realistically be made available. President Biden’s eye-catching plans for an additional $1.9trn of stimulus has already attracted the first ‘tie breaking’ vote in Congress, reminding us that not every positive headline will have an easy path to impacting in the real world.