by Marc Chandler
Financial Sense
The angst that characterized the first several weeks of the year continues to dissipate. Major equity markets are extending their two-week recovery into the third week. Immediate concerns about the US falling into a recession have eased.
The market has withstood some downward pressure on the Chinese yuan. Late yesterday Moody’s cut its outlook for China’s credit rating to negative from stable, and this did not cause much of a ripple in the capital markets. In fact, the Shanghai and Shenzhen Composites rallied a more than 4% today, fully participating the general advance. The MSCI Asia-Pacific Index advanced 3.4% today to reach its best level since January 13.