Stockmarkets stumble – but the bulls charge on

Global markets registered their worst day in months last week, but US retail investors continue to pile in.

Shoppers in Germany © Ying Tang/NurPhoto via Getty Images
People in Germany are moving around to the same extent as before Covid-19 © Getty
(Image credit: Shoppers in Germany © Ying Tang/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Stocks can go down as well up, says The New York Times. Markets have been rallying almost continuously since the March bottom, but last week brought a reminder that gains can quickly turn into losses. Global markets registered their worst day in months on Thursday, with America’s S&P 500 tumbling 5.9% and the Dow Jones index down 7%. The FTSE 100 shed almost 4%.

Signs of a revival in Covid-19 are tempering the “exuberance”, says Randall Forsyth for Barron’s. Case numbers are rising in 20 US states and there are signs of a new outbreak in China. Even this relentlessly optimistic rally would be unlikely to survive a second wave.

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Markets editor

Alex is an investment writer who has been contributing to MoneyWeek since 2015. He has been the magazine’s markets editor since 2019. 

Alex has a passion for demystifying the often arcane world of finance for a general readership. While financial media tends to focus compulsively on the latest trend, the best opportunities can lie forgotten elsewhere. 

He is especially interested in European equities – where his fluent French helps him to cover the continent’s largest bourse – and emerging markets, where his experience living in Beijing, and conversational Chinese, prove useful. 

Hailing from Leeds, he studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the University of Oxford. He also holds a Master of Public Health from the University of Manchester.