Built on blind faith in Fed's power, market rally may be short-lived
LAST week, stocks rose after the Federal Reserve expressed willingness to suspend its rate hike programme until the outlook brightens, but some warn that the Fed is only delaying inevitable market pain.
This Easter week, the bull market may be resurrected from its near death earlier this year as the major indexes look set to test their record highs. However, not everyone believes in this bull market. The bears point out that the recent rally was built on the same, shaky ground as the short-lived rally in 2015 - blind faith in the powers of the US central bank.
"After one of the worst starts to a year ever, March is coming back just as quickly. In fact, after nine trading sessions, this (was) the second best start to March since World War II," said one money manager, who couldn't be named because of his firm's policy. The money manager noted that this was the first time since the birth of the bull market in 2009 that the broad Standard & Poor's 500 has risen by more than one per cent for five straight weeks. The S&P 500 is now only 4 per cent from its record high.
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