The rest of the world was weighed down by a Phantom Menace of inflation from consumer staples and energy. The Attack of the Clones from Russia in Ukraine, now in its second year, has morphed into the Revenge of the Sith as Hamas provoked a polarising response from Israel, resulting in the continuation of the blood feuds in the Holy Land.
It is customary at the beginning of the year to be hopeful. Why not, especially following an era of low interest rates, when risky assets such as cryptos and certain tech stocks scaled to a peak in 2021, only to be followed by a steep correction?
Now, with the indigestion of 2022 behind us, equity markets have not only withstood Jerome Powell’s multiple rate hikes from the US Federal Reserve but rallied last year.
As many observers had similarly pointed out, the US rally last year was narrow, led only by the so-called “Magnificent 7” stocks of Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Nvidia, Amazon, Meta Platforms and Tesla.
