Stocks rallied again on Wednesday with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq both hitting record closes.
Three investors shared the trends they’re seeing in the market and the areas they think could climb higher.
Anastasia Amoroso, chief investment strategist at iCapital Network, says fear of the Federal Reserve has faded, paving the way for fresh highs.
“I think the expectations for the Fed to do anything at Jackson Hole have been lowered quite a bit, and that was a big worry. If the Fed was talking about tapering … amid the surge in delta [Covid] cases, that was not going to be great for the market. But now the base case for everyone is there’s going to be a lot of talk amongst central bankers at Jackson Hole, but it’s going to be no taper and there’s not going to be much action. So I think that’s a positive for the market and that’s why you’ve seen the reopening trade come back in vogue in the last few days.”
Paul Hickey, co-founder of Bespoke Investment Group, sees investors buying even small pullbacks.
“It’s August and we’re looking for something to focus on, and Jackson Hole fills that void, but it’s usually more bark than bite. What you want to focus on here is there’s a lot of liquidity in the market; it’s not going anywhere in the near future here. We’re seeing this extreme tendency to buy the dips on the … smallest of dips and when you have a more dovish Fed out there, I think you’re going to see more of a benefit towards the cyclicals and the reopening stocks.”
Stephanie Link, chief investment strategist at Hightower, looks back on the year so far and what is currently in favor.
“Remember how we talked about how 2021 has been a year of rotation. January through May, it was value versus growth. May to end of July, it was growth over value. And now, in the last couple of days we’ve seen a return to the cyclicals and to the reopen names, a little bit more value versus growth and a risk-on feel, which is why I think the meme stocks have done well, and I think it all has to do with delta.”