Quantitative Tightening Is Roiling Markets
- Investors are having to get by with much less stimulus now
- Liquidity will be in outright contraction soon, analysts say
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That whooshing sound you hear is the draining of $1.4 trillion worth of global liquidity.
Quantitative tightening, or the unwinding of central banks’ extraordinary stimulus, has been the primary driver of asset-class performance this year, Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts say. The march higher in U.S. interest rates and tighter financial conditions mean securities that did well during quantitative easing, such as corporate bonds and emerging-market debt, are now underperforming, while “QE losers” have become stars.