Among investors, it’s the big end-of-year cleaning

The traditional end-of-year rally did not take place in the equity market. The Standard & Poor’s 500, the star index of American stocks, has lost nearly 4% since December 14, the Euro Stoxx 600 some 3.2%. These declines occurred when the markets had recovered since October 15. This turnaround was short-lived. In question, the announcements of the major central bankers, the Fed on December 14 followed by the European Central Bank the day following. The call to order from Jerome Powell and Christine Lagarde, who both confirmed monetary tightening by raising rates by 0.5%, weighed on the horizons of short-term traders. The absence of medium-term prospects for relaxation did not help to comfort them.