Here’s Where Investors Plan to Put More Money in the Early Days of the Bull Market
As stocks keep climbing, some investors are considering putting more money towards high-flying tech companies — or ditching holdings in sectors like real estate.
That's according to new survey data from online brokerage eToro, which shows how investors are adjusting their portfolios in the early days of the rally.
The S&P 500 index entered a new bull market earlier this month, giving investors some reason for optimism.
Investors are turning to tech stocks
Of the 10,000 investors across 13 countries surveyed in June, 23% said they plan on increasing their investments in the tech sector in the coming months. That’s not too surprising: Tech stocks are outperforming the broader market by a large margin. Another 12% of respondents said they plan on increasing their investments in financial services stocks.
On the other hand, 15% of investors said they planned to reduce their holdings in real estate stocks, which have struggled amid a difficult housing market, while 14% said they plan to move away from consumer discretionary stocks (like casinos and restaurants). The firm says older investors are leading the retreat from these two sectors.
Is the bull market here to stay?
Roughly 90% of investors surveyed plan to keep investing over the next three months. Despite investors’ confidence in the bull market, Callie Cox, eToro’s U.S. investment analyst, said in a press release accompanying the survey that “there are still signs of growth slowing.”
While the general rule of thumb for a bull market is a 20% rise from the previous low, it’s worth remembering that there’s no official entity that determines whether stocks have entered that state or whether they’ll remain there. Experts warn that the market is facing plenty of challenges, including dwindling consumer savings and shaky corporate earnings.
The big question is whether stocks can move past those challenges to keep rising.
“It's not necessarily a bad time to stay in the market,” Angelo Kourkafas, an investment strategist at Edward Jones, previously told Money, “but at the same time, there are some headwinds."
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