As stock prices fall, investors prepare for an autumn chill
Markets are in a very different place from earlier in the year
![Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, United States, August 28th 2024](https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20240907_FNP001.jpg)
Investors returning from summer holidays might feel dispirited upon checking their portfolios. Stocks have had a poor start to September. America’s S&P 500 index dropped by 2% on its first day of trading. European shares followed suit on September 4th and those in Japan have fallen by even more. It is a striking change from the calm that had settled over markets before Labour Day. American share prices ended August less than a hundredth of a percentage point below an all-time high reached in July, European ones fared similarly and Japanese stocks were just a few percentage points below their peak. Adding to the good vibes, rich-world inflation had continued to cool, setting the scene for the Federal Reserve to begin cutting interest rates when its policymakers next meet on September 17th and 18th.
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This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “Seasons change”
Finance & economics September 7th 2024
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