LeadLag Report: An Interview with Ophir Gottlieb on Bond Market Instability
Bond yields have been rising for over three years now. The bottom was hit in March 2020, amid the pandemic crash as investors flocked to bonds. That pushed yields to historic lows.
Yields even started rising before the Fed announced it would raise interest rates. Fast forward to this year, and bond yields have jumped even higher with just the prospect of interest rates staying higher for a considerable amount of time.
The bond market is usually a sleepy one, where investors look for a safe place to park their capital. That makes the moves of the past few years an extreme one.
Assets don’t operate in a vacuum. Soaring yields in the bond market are starting to show up in other markets as well. The stock market’s recent decline has been closely tied to rising bond yields.
This is a sort of knock-on effect. Rising bond yields make bonds look more attractive, especially with the prospect of inflation further declining.
Meanwhile, stocks are selling off to reflect the competition from higher yields. Dividend stocks are taking some steep hits, with defensive stocks such as utilities marking multi-year lows.
If the moves in the bond market continue, investors should continue to expect other asset classes to make extreme moves.