Fri, 08 May 2015 16:30 PM ESTGlobal equities lost altitude through Thursday as the parade of poor economic data and bond market choppiness continued. Early in the week, the ADP jobs report raised real worries that the US would see another anemic payrolls number for April, while Chinese trade data was concerning. There was no breakthrough on Greece, with both sides seemingly committed to forcing negotiations down to the wire. The global bond market rout continued apace this week and the surge in yields kept pressure on stocks worldwide, nudged further by Fed Chair Yellen weighing in on equity valuations. The stampede out of stocks and bonds sent European indexes to their lowest levels in two months. Note that the UST 10-year yield peaked just below 2.3% on Wednesday and then headed back below 2.12%, while the 10-year Bund peaked around 0.777% on Thursday and quickly dropped below 0.540% by Friday. The surprise landslide victory by the Conservative government in UK elections and Friday’s not-too-hot, not-too-cold US jobs report helped equities recoup their losses for the week, with DJIA gaining 0.9%, the S&P500 adding 0.4% and the Nasdaq ending just above flat.Fed Chair Yellen raised eyebrows on Wednesday after commenting on equity market valuations in a panel discussion. “I would highlight that equity market valuations at this point generally are quite high,” said Yellen. “There are potential dangers there.” Commentators compared Yellen’s remarks to her call on biotech valuations a year ago as well as Alan Greenspan’s notorious “irrational exuberance” comments. “We’ve also seen the compression of spreads on high-yield debt, which certainly looks like a reach for yield type of behavior,” added Yellen. She also warned that another potential trouble spot was low long-term interest rates, which could spike as the Fed normalizes its policy, causing disruption across the financial system.

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