What’s Driving the Sudden Retreat from Risk in Markets

Wall Street’s favorite trades are collapsing. Day by day, the headlong rush into the most popular trades, from tech stocks to gold to cryptocurrencies, has given way to a sudden retreat from risk. Here’s a look at the slow drumbeat of news sowing anxiety about valuations that many suspected had already run up too far — and causing investors to pull back all at once.

To be sure, the selloff in equities showed signs of easing as Friday’s session progressed during the Asian day, suggesting selling pressure was starting to abate after steep declines in US tech stocks. That came after Wall Street gauges declined on Thursday, with the Nasdaq 100 suffering its worst three-day rout since April’s meltdown. Precious metals also stabilized after a volatile start. Bitcoin made a similar move, rising more than 3% after having earlier tumbled to nearly $60,000 — less than half its peak in October.