In the aftermath of the global financial crisis, unconventional monetary policies – most
notably successive rounds of Quantitative Easing – were implemented by major
advanced economies. This abundant global liquidity contributed largely to strong asset
price gains and higher risk appetites. As major central banks pursued their policy of flooding
the market with liquidity, risks had been compressed, intentionally or otherwise.
Recently though, despite ample global liquidity, investors have grown worried about
the diverging paths of monetary policy among major central banks. That is, the Federal
Reserve or the Fed is poised to begin its tightening phase while the European Central Bank,
the Bank of Japan, and the People’s Bank of China are likely to continue their ongoing
monetary easing for a considerable period of time. The implications of diverging monetary
policy stance for asset markets have weighed on the minds of investors around the world.
As I shall elaborate, it is probably not the excess liquidity per se that generates turbulence
and volatility, but prospects of the exit – or reversal – that does so.
In the near future, global markets are bracing for the impacts from the Fed “lift-off”,
leading to growing nervousness in the markets. Although the prospect of an interest rate
increase by the Fed has been widely anticipated ever since the taper tantrum in 2013, the
uncertainty over its timing and possible impacts has in part contributed to episodes of
market turbulence this year. After the eventual lift-off – whenever that may be – the
markets will turn their attention to the pace of monetary tightening – or rate increases. The
shift in market expectation over the pace will prompt volatility going forward.