A turbulent start of the year for U.S. stocks has entered a new phase in recent days, with investors weighing good news about corporate earnings and the labor market against the stubborn challenges of high inflation, rising bond yields and geopolitical uncertainty.
One takeaway from the past week in markets is that 2022 is starting to look like what many predicted heading into the year. Stocks have generally fared better than in January, when they fell sharply in anticipation of tighter monetary policies, but are still buffeted by conflicting trends that are widely expected to keep prices volatile.
A driving force behind many market swings remains the increase in U.S. government bond yields, fueled by escalating expectations for how high the Federal Reserve will raise short-term interest rates this year.
Yields, which rise when bond prices fall, are a bedrock…
