A consortium of the world's central banks has concluded that rising global corporate stock values are at odds with a world economy that is still not fully recovered from the depths of the downturn of six years ago.
In its annual report, the Swiss-based Bank for International Settlements said "it is hard to avoid the sense of a puzzling disconnect" between near-record stock indexes in New York, London and Frankfurt and elsewhere around the world even as economic trends are not as robust.
The central bankers said the global economy "continues to face serious challenges."
It also said, "Despite the euphoria in financial markets, investment remains weak," corporate and personal debt is increasing and the world economic and political outlook is uncertain.
The Bank for International Settlements acts as a clearinghouse for transactions among national central banks.
U.S. Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen, European Central Bank president Mario Draghi and other top central bank officials are on the group's board and meet periodically discuss the world's economic fortunes.