US equity index futures mixed: S&P 500 up ~0.2%
Jan PCE price index MM, YY, core MM, YY all in-line with ests
Jan personal income > est; consumption adj < est
Euro STOXX 600 index off ~0.4%
Dollar slips; gold declines; crude off >1%; bitcoin down >3%
US 10-Year Treasury yield falls to ~4.25%
Welcome to the home for real-time coverage of markets brought to you by Reuters reporters. You can share your thoughts with us at markets.research@thomsonreuters.com
INDIVIDUAL INVESTOR BULLS AND BEARS SEE SOME EYE POPPING MOVES - AAII
Individual investor pessimism over the short-term outlook for U.S. stocks rocketed in the latest American Association of Individual Investors (AAII) Sentiment Survey. With this, optimism and neutral sentiment tumbled.
Meanwhile, a little over half of investors surveyed describe the current state of the U.S. economy as "mixed."
AAII reported that bearish sentiment, or expectations that stock prices will fall over the next six months, surged 20.2 percentage points to 60.6%. Bearish sentiment is "unusually high" and is above its historical average of 31.0% for the 13th time in 15 weeks. Bearish sentiment was last higher on September 29, 2022 (60.8%), and was "the seventh-highest reading in the survey’s history."
Of note, the 60.8% reading on September 29, 2022 occurred nine trading days (tds) prior to the end of S&P 500 index's .SPX 2022 bear market on October 12, 2022. The SPX sold off more than 25% on a closing basis in that decline.
(At this time, the SPX ended Thursday down just 4.64% from its February 19 record closing high).
Bullish sentiment, or expectations that stock prices will rise over the next six months, fell 9.8 percentage points to 19.4%. Bullish sentiment is "unusually low" and is below its historical average of 37.5% for the seventh time in nine weeks. Bullish sentiment was last lower on March 16, 2023 (19.2%), and was among "the lowest 65 readings in the survey’s history."
The 19.2% reading on March 16, 2023 occurred just 3 tds after the S&P 500's Silicon Valley Bank panic low. The SPX had sold off nearly 8% from its early-February 2023 high on a closing basis.
Neutral sentiment, or expectations that stock prices will stay essentially unchanged over the next six months, slid 10.3 percentage points to 20.0%. Neutral sentiment is "unusually low" and is below its historical average of 31.5% for the 32nd time in 34 weeks. Neutral sentiment was last lower on September 29, 2022 (19.2%).
With these changes, the bull-bear spread collapsed about 30.0 percentage points to around –41% from around –11% last week. The bull-bear spread is the most negative it's been since September 2022, and is below its historical average of 6.5% for the eighth time in 10 weeks.
In this week's special question AAII asked its members how they would describe the current state of the economy.
Here is AAII's graphic showing how they responded:
(Terence Gabriel)
*****
FOR FRIDAY'S EARLIER LIVE MARKETS POSTS:
EUROPE'S DEFENCE SECTOR SET FOR BIGGEST WEEKLY JUMP SINCE 2020 - CLICK HERE
EQUITY BUBBLE RISK ALIVE AND JUSTIFIABLE, BUT WE'RE NOT IN ONE - UBS - CLICK HERE
TAIWAN, EUROPE, CANADA MOST EXPOSED STOCK MARKETS TO U.S. TARIFFS - CLICK HERE
TARIFF JITTERS KEEP STOXX SUBDUED DESPITE ROSY EARNINGS - CLICK HERE
EUROPE BEFORE THE BELL: TARIFF FEARS BATTER FUTURES - CLICK HERE
NO PLACE TO HIDE FROM TRUMP TARIFF WORRIES - CLICK HERE
AAII02282025 https://tmsnrt.rs/41jLWpV
AAIISQ02282025 https://tmsnrt.rs/4h6gPUq
Disclaimer: Investing carries risk. This is not financial advice. The above content should not be regarded as an offer, recommendation, or solicitation on acquiring or disposing of any financial products, any associated discussions, comments, or posts by author or other users should not be considered as such either. It is solely for general information purpose only, which does not consider your own investment objectives, financial situations or needs. TTM assumes no responsibility or warranty for the accuracy and completeness of the information, investors should do their own research and may seek professional advice before investing.
No relevant data is available
If the download button clicks without skipping, click on the top right menu and select "Open in Browser."