Financial markets: Calm before the storm?
All the indicators are telling us that the temperature is just right. Stock markets have steadily climbed to new records, but haven't seen such low volatility for years. Daily stock market movements of, say, more than 1%, have been pretty rare recently among the leading indexes. It's a similar story in the currency, bond and commodity markets.
A few years ago, a rebel attack on Iraq's oilfields would have jolted the crude price sharply higher. Not now. Despite the small oil price rise over Iraq tensions, crude volatility is at historic lows. In Spain, whose economy was for so long a byword for crisis and turmoil, the government can now borrow money at rates similar to those in the UK. Across Europe's periphery economies, bond yields have fallen sharply as risk capital returns to the markets. A contentment seems to have descended. Sharp deviations in prices - that is, volatility - are a thing of the past.
Read More: www.bbc.com/news/business-27920419