Wall St futures edge up after monthly gains; more earnings ahead
Investing.com -- Investor sentiment toward global markets has turned decisively risk-on in October, with participants overwhelmingly favoring equities and commodities while dumping bonds, according to the latest Alpine Macro Investment Survey.
The firm’s Chief Quantitative Strategist, Henry Wu, said respondents “further increased their already heavy equity overweight,” with net positioning rising to 34% from 30% last month.
By contrast, “investors are now at a record underweight in fixed income,” as bond positioning dropped six percentage points to –34%, marking what Wu described as “deep bearishness on bonds.”
“More than 40% of clients hold underweight bond positions,” the strategist noted, making it the most negative stance toward fixed income since Alpine Macro began tracking the survey.
Cash allocations, meanwhile, “stay roughly unchanged with net positioning at neutral.”
Alpine Macro said the optimism reflects a backdrop of “rebounding growth” and improving balance between inflation and economic expansion.
“Although investors still expect inflation to stay firm into the first quarter of next year, growth expectations have strengthened significantly,” the firm said.
“If these forecasts prove accurate, it is difficult to see the Fed cutting rates as currently projected.”
Commodities are also said to remain a popular bet. “Respondents stay overweight commodities amid the ongoing bull market in precious metals,” Alpine Macro said, with nearly half of clients reporting overweight positions — “a record for bullish net positioning.”
The survey, conducted from October 13 to 19 among Alpine Macro clients, also found that investors “believe that AI is in the early innings of a bubble” but continue to favor emerging markets for both stocks and bonds.