Posted: 20 March 2018

Stock markets hit the skids in February, unnerved by a sharp rise in bond yields and volatility that resulted from what looked like good news for the US economy. Sparking the falls was news that average hourly earnings in the US rose by 2.9% for the 12 months to January, much higher than expected (and the fastest rate since 2009), which stoked fears of rising inflation. European and Asian markets followed their US counterparts lower in the first half of February. From mid-month, the markets rebounded, although most ended February in the red.