March 23, 2022

Actionable Insights: Three things to watch to find the market bottom

March 9, 2022 | Anastasia Amoroso | iCapital

It is too soon in our view to call a market bottom given heightened geopolitical and economic uncertainty. A turnaround will require the emergence of positive growth catalysts and for certain measures of market sentiment to shift. For now, patience and selectivity are the watchwords.

Last week, U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) Chair Jerome Powell struck a more cautious tone on monetary policy during his semiannual Congressional testimony, in light of developments in Ukraine. A 50bp rise in interest rates in March was taken off the table, with 25bps all but assured.1 The markets cheered—at least for one day. Payrolls came in above consensus, with a solid 678,000 jobs added in February despite the recent market turmoil2, suggesting strength in the underlying economy. However, even together these developments are not yet enough to turn the tide of negativity.

In this week’s commentary, we discuss why we think it is not yet time for an all-clear signal in markets and share three things we are watching to identify a bottom.

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