Equity Euphoria Goes Global With Indexes at Overbought Levels

(Bloomberg) -- The most hated rally this is not.

Equity euphoria has gripped most of the world to kick off 2018, with the 14-day relative strength index for major stock markets surging to overbought levels.

The S&P 500 Index, MSCI Asia Pacific Index, MSCI World Index, Nikkei 225 Index, and MSCI Emerging Markets Index are all in overbought territory, while the Euro Stoxx 600 Index lingers just shy of such a level.

The average reading for this collection of gauges soared to a weekly record as of Jan. 5, according to data compiled by Bloomberg going back to 1988.

The relative strength index is a technical indicator that tracks the magnitude and speed of price fluctuations. Typically, a security with an RSI above 70 is considered to be overbought, while those below 30 are viewed as oversold.

To contact the reporter on this story: Luke Kawa in New York at lkawa@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jeremy Herron at jherron8@bloomberg.net, Randall Jensen, Dave Liedtka

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