For more than a decade now, since the financial crisis of 2007-2009, central banks' accomodative monetary policies have provided a huge boost to equities. But hints this week that the Federal Reserve in the US might finally be running out of ammunition and the admission that the Bank of England is contemplating negative interest rates suggest this particular source of succour for investors might be running dry.
And when that support fades away investors could very quickly find themselves exposed if they are not careful. However, as my column elsewhere this week laid out, it is still best to follow quality opportunities than to try to jump on the value bandwagon even at such heightened valuations - just be careful and remain vigilant for bumps in the road ahead.
On top of this concern we continue to see the UK markets wax and wane on newsflow around Brexit and now the increasing likelihood of renewed restrictions on the public in the wake of a sharp uptick in coronavirus cases - something which could stymie what was building into a decent looking recovery from the depths of the economic deep freeze of March and April.
All these factors add up to make for a fairly febrile mood among investors and the coming months will require a cool head and discipline to filter out the noise.
