Gold bars to be exempt from tariffs, White House clarifies
Investing.com - Ownership of U.S. equities is showing a consistent upward trend fueled in large part by technology names, according to analysts at Citi.
In a note to clients, the analysts led by Chris Montagu said bullish positioning has been climbing in U.S. large cap indexes, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite leading the benchmark S&P 500.
"Flow activity has been largely one-sided, driven by new risk flows for large caps," the brokerage wrote.
They flagged that positioning in small cap companies has eased, while profit-taking risks are an "ongoing concern" for these stocks "as long profit levels are extended" following a recent rally in U.S. equities.
Short positioning -- selling a borrowed asset with the expectation of a price decrease -- has also shown a "steady decline" across U.S. equity averages, they added, noting that these levels are in the bottom 30th percentile on a long-term relative basis.
Expectations that the U.S. would eventually reach trade deals with a slew of countries, as well as relatively upbeat earnings and tepid inflation data, all underpinned an uptick in U.S. stocks last month. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq both logged their best months since November 2023.
Following an small gain on Monday, the S&P 500 is now roughly 2% below its record high previously notched in February and the Nasdaq is about 3% below its all-time peak in December -- suggesting a possible recovery from deep ructions earlier this year sparked by U.S. President Donald Trump’s aggressive tariff agenda.
Outside of the U.S., investor positioning in European equity markets -- which have broadly outperformed their Wall Street peers so far in 2025 -- remained largely unchanged last week, the Citi analysts said. Bullish sentiment especially persists in Germany’s DAX index, the European banking sector, and the U.K.’s FTSE 100, they said.
In Asia, underlying positioning levels in Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index and China’s A50 index "continued to see a marginal improvement," the analysts said.