Just a blip or time to cut the winners?

It is a short-term trend, but a notable one nonetheless: some of last year's biggest equity market gainers have seen sizeable pullbacks in recent weeks.

Japanese equities, US technology stocks and UK mid-caps have all been hit, with no obvious catalyst to blame. In Japan, perhaps, the falls could be attributed to worries over ‘Abenomics’, but there has been little fresh data on that front. Nor has there been any clear spark for the falls in technology stocks and UK mid-cap share prices. It is more likely that all three are now simply seeing investors take profits after a long run of gains. Tech stocks have risen 270% from their post-crisis lows, while the FTSE 250 has risen 200%. Japan’s Nikkei rose 80% in the past two calendar yea...