Jeremy Podger: Equity markets' spasmodic adjustment

If you define it as a 20% fall from highs, a bear market has emerged in the emerging markets (in US dollar terms) - yet Europe is not quite there and everywhere else has so far seen a relatively modest correction. Back in February, concerns about US inflation triggered a technical sell-off where the S&P 500 index fell 10%. After falling for five sessions in a row, at the time of writing, the US is just 5% off its recent high. But the magnitude of some individual stock declines has spooked some investors so it is worthy of comment. We have had several pullbacks in the 10 years since th...