Slowly, as global markets show signs of waking from their New Year's rout, the lockstep moves that have paralyzed investors from Tokyo to New York are beginning to ease.

While four days is a small sample, the equity rally that began Friday is starting to weaken previously ironclad ties between, say, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index and things like oil and junk bonds. The easing represents a reversal from the year's first six weeks, when concerns about economic growth and solvency risk wove markets together tightly.