With the Federal Reserve raising interest rates seven times last year to fight levels of inflation not seen since the 1980s, CEOs said in interviews at the time that they were preparing for a recession and the S&P 500 sank roughly 20%. But in January, despite consistent doomsday predictions from Wall Street, the blue-chip index recovered as much as 5%.
Marko Kolanovic, chief equity strategist at JPMorgan Chase, said that he believes the market’s recent rise is due to overly optimistic investors. Positive developments, including year-over-year inflation falling from its June 9.1% high to 6.5% last month, and the Chinese economy reopening after years of strict COVID protocols, have led some analysts to argue that a new bull market has begun.
