The major stock market indexes experienced a sell-off earlier this year on concerns over multi-decade high inflation, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, soaring crude oil and natural gas prices, and the possibility of aggressive interest rate increases.
However, the market has staged a decent recovery over the last two weeks, with investors pricing-in most of the negative factors. Dialogue between Ukraine and Russia appears to be progressing after an initial breakdown in talks. Recently, Russia announced that it would reduce its military assault on Kyiv and Chernihiv. Any positive development on the war front might act as a trigger for the markets to rebound. In addition, as the first-quarter earnings season draws close and corporates are expected to announce improved results, investors might gain further confidence.
