Staff Editor

Call it the Teflon market.

The world’s on edge over everything from rising tension in the Middle East to an uncertain U.K. election to the turmoil surrounding the Trump administration.

Yet financial markets chug along as if nothing’s amiss — global stocks are churning just 0.4 percent below all-time highs, while volatility in equities, bonds and currencies remains dormant and money continues to pour into riskier developing nations.

It’s a pattern that’s held for the better part of the year, with the odd bout of angst thrown in. Investors have discounted geopolitical risks as idiosyncratic and focused instead on a global economy that’s powering higher amid persistently low inflation. With central banks assuring they’ll remove years of stimulus only gradually, risk tolerance remains robust.

“While you may get little spikes in risk aversion at times, markets are looking through them, as long as the underlying fundamentals remain supportive,” said Peter Kinsella, a senior currency and rates strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia from London.

Then there’s Thursday.

The European Central Bank’s rate decision will unveil officials’ views on inflation and how long they’ll leave the monetary spigot flowing. Former FBI Director James Comey testifies to a Senate committee on his interactions with President Donald Trump. And the day ends with the outcome of a U.K. election that polls show tightening into the vote.

“Investors are mindful of the event risks, but the liquidity trade is by far the most important and most dominant factor,” said Mark Nash, head of global bonds at Old Mutual Global Investors in London. “It makes the market very forgiving.”

Look no further than the economy for a reason why. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development on Wednesday raised its forecast for global growth this year to 3.5 percent from 3.3 percent as of March. Historically, it’s generally taken prolonged economic contraction to end a bull market, and JPMorgan Chase & Co. notes that no rally has peaked longer than a year before a recession has started.

“We have this kind of Goldilocks world continuing where no one sees any dramatic threats to growth on the horizon,” said Rupert Harrison, chief macro strategist at BlackRock in London on Bloomberg Television. “This is still a very unloved rally in terms of the equity markets. We still think it has some further to go.”

The ECB is least likely to disrupt the calm Thursday, with the central bank preparing to cut its inflation outlook at the policy meeting, boosting the prospect stimulus will remain in place longer, Bloomberg reported. In the U.S., investors have long anticipated the Federal Reserve will tighten at its meeting next week — though the pace from there remains glacial, according to the Fed fund futures.

While the latest diplomatic spat among Qatar and its Arab neighbors exacerbated geopolitical concerns, market risks from such events have been fleeting in recent years, including Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the U.K.’s vote to exit the European Union.

Jens Nystedt, a senior portfolio manager at Morgan Stanley Investment Management, examined major political events since World War II and found that any initial selloff only proved to be buying opportunities.

Comey’s testimony could see the market add to rising speculation the Trump administration won’t be able to push through tax and regulatory overhauls aimed at boosting growth — though the so-called Trump trade expired weeks ago. Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s gauges of high-tax stocks, for instance, have been underperforming low-tax companies, suggesting little expectations for reform in that area.

The market cares about politics that have an impact on the economy. That’s not likely on Thursday, said CBA’s Kinsella.

“Investors can see that political risks rarely result in market negative outcomes over the longer term,” he said.

To be sure, the market itself has flashed signs of caution, especially when it comes to U.S. equity valuations. The Shiller Cyclical Adjusted P/E ratio reached the most expensive level since the dot-com bubble, while the credit market has shown hints of stress as household borrowings surged to a record $12.7 trillion.

Billionaire investor Bill Gross warned Wednesday that U.S. markets are at their highest risk levels since before the 2008 financial crisis because of the lofty valuation.

“Instead of buying low and selling high, you’re buying high and crossing your fingers,” Gross, manager of the $2 billion Janus Henderson Global Unconstrained Bond Fund, said at the Bloomberg Invest New York summit.

Millennials often get a bad rap when it comes to financial responsibility. But it turns out those stereotypes may be off base. Millennials are saving more money than any other generation, according to a new study by Bank of America and Merrill Edge. But it’s what they’re saving for that really sets them apart from older generations.

Saving for financial freedom is the No. 1 priority for millennials — 63% of millennials said they’re saving a set amount of money to enjoy their desired lifestyle. This is a stark contrast to older generations: the majority of the Gen X and baby boomer generations prioritize their savings specifically to leave the workforce and retire.

This shift speaks to the bigger differences in the ways millennials and older generations view money, and what they prioritize in their lives. While it may not sound surprising that younger workers aren’t thinking about nest eggs as much as older generations, what’s a little different here is that they’re not thinking about retirement as a phase of life, let alone working to afford it.  Millennials listed personal milestones as their top priorities: getting their dream job and traveling the world trumped more traditional goals like getting married and having children.

“Young adults tell us they are willing to do whatever it takes to achieve freedom and flexibility, even if it means working for the rest of their lives,” said Aron Levine, head of Merrill Edge.

But while millennials may be eschewing more traditional financial goals, they’re still focusing on building their savings. This age group, which includes people 18 to 34, is saving more money than any other generation; on average, millennials save 19% of their annual paychecks, compared with 14% for baby boomers and Gen Xers. More than a third (36%) of millennials say they save more than 20% of their paychecks each year.

So where does that money go to if it’s not being funneled into retirement accounts? According to the Merrill report, 81% of millennials spend their money on traveling. Eating out and exercising are the two other activities millennials listed before they’d save for retirement. These spending habits point to a shift in the way millennials use their money for personal fulfillment, compared to older generations.