{"id":1127,"date":"2023-04-14T17:44:16","date_gmt":"2023-04-14T17:44:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mcivercapital.com\/?p=1127"},"modified":"2023-04-14T17:44:16","modified_gmt":"2023-04-14T17:44:16","slug":"market-forces-010","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mcivercapital.com\/market-forces-010\/","title":{"rendered":"Market Forces 010"},"content":{"rendered":"
After a disastrous 2022, the positive momentum seen in the last quarter of 2022 continued into the first quarter of 2023, with the S&P 500 and NASDAQ up 7% and 17% respectively in the quarter. The DJIA was the exception, with its higher underlying financials sector exposure dragging down its performance (flat in the quarter).<\/p>\n
The first two months of the quarter were characterized by relatively low levels of volatility with the VIX (a measure of market volatility) around the 20 level. The relative calm was short-lived, with the failure of two US banks (Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank) introducing fears of\u00a0systemic<\/em>\u00a0risk in the US banking system. This resulted in a spike in the VIX to levels in excess of 30 and negatively impacted the performance of the banking sector.<\/p>\n