John Authers, Columnist

Take Away China, and a Stealth Bull Market Emerges

Emerging markets look stronger the less China is in the picture, and an unexpected performance in debt looks like one place to start.

The Bund Bull in Shanghai: Other emerging markets are on a stronger run without it. 

Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg
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What might actually work out well? Bull markets tend not to announce their presence with a bang; they’re more likely to get under way when nobody is paying attention. On that basis, the excitement over artificial intelligence suggests it’s more of an “echo bubble” from the great surge in technology stocks during the pandemic, rather than something that’s likely to endure. Meanwhile, the economic data in the US continues to be Sphinx-like — inscrutably moving in the direction of a soft landing, if you squint, but with much noise and great room for interpretations.