Risk-Asset Stresses Persist

Risk-asset stresses persisted in May as recession worries flared, says ‘FTSE Russell’s June 2022 Monthly Performance Report.’ Equities and corporate bonds continued to struggle in May as investors assessed the likely impact of high inflation, the Ukraine war, slowing Chinese growth, and central bank tightening on global growth and profits, it says. Amid extreme risk-on/risk-off swings, rallies in the U.S. dollar and gold lost steam while commodity-backed and value stocks continued to outperform. In global asset classes, a risk-off mood pervaded markets with equity and corporate bond markets ending May with small losses or gains. However, oil surged on new bans on Russian crude imports.