The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday, June 15, edition that gauges of stock market volatility are eerily calm, largely because of the ample cash still sloshing around the financial system, but it likely will not last. A Reuters dispatch to The Globe reports that BNP Paribas estimates excess global liquidity has risen by $640-billion (U.S.) since the end of third quarter of 2022 and is "unsustainable" when some central banks are trying to offload bonds they hold in a process known as quantitative tightening. As the second half of 2023 approaches, a more challenging environment could emerge for risk assets currently benefiting from ample liquidity. For the short term, at least, analysts expect risk assets to remain buoyant. Central banks have added a net $1.7-trillion (U.S.) into money markets since November. World stocks have gained 11 per cent year to date, bolstered by U.S. tech stocks rallying on an AI boom. BNP Paribas's base case is for global liquidity to fall 6 per cent to 9 per cent by end-September and 7 per cent to 11 per cent by year-end. "Liquidity is not a force that reverberates immediately into financial markets," said JPMorgan's Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou.