The overall market sentiment has been increasingly bearish since the beginning of the year due to the war between Ukraine and Russia, supply chain disruption, and rising energy prices. In addition, the economy has been under severe inflationary stress, with the Consumer Price Index rising to 8.6% in May, the fastest advance in more than 40 years.
The S&P 500 has officially entered a bear market on concerns over the Fed’s aggressive interest rate hikes to fight the multi-decade-high inflation. Moreover, the consumer sentiment fell sharply to a record-low reading of 50.2, down from a May reading of 58.4, flaming concerns about a potential recession in the U.S. economy.
