El-Erian: It’s about the ECB…again

The writer is Mohamed El-Erian, chief economic adviser to Allianz and chair of US President Barack Obama’s Global Development Council.

Wondering why European peripherals are relatively well behaved while virtually all other risk assets have sold off this morning?

It need not be about irrational or misinformed markets. Instead, it is consistent with expectations of additional market intervention by the European Central Bank.

Concerns about China and Greece are fueling increased risk aversion. Equities are selling off, hard duration (including German and US government bonds) is rallying, commodities are getting crushed, and emerging market currencies are under pressure.