Stock market volatility is always around the corner

There is an eerie calm about financial markets at present. Currency and bond markets are quite range bound, while world stock markets hit new record highs in the past week.

In the US, the S&P 500 enjoyed a seven-session winning streak for the first time since 2013. Meanwhile, the VIX index, a popular measure of expected stock market volatility, often referred to as Wall Street’s fear gauge, has fallen to very low levels.

Stock markets are being boosted by good data on the global economy.