Yahoo Finance Amex, Morgan Stanley, Beige Book — What you need to know in markets on Wednesday
Stocks are back in the green.
After a second straight rally to kick off the week, the Dow joined the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq by moving back into positive territory for the year.
And coming on a day when financials, which had been a market leader in 2017, lagged the market as Goldman Sachs (GS) shares dropped 1.6% after earnings, bulls should be encouraged.
On Wednesday, markets will have Morgan Stanley (MS) as one of the last major U.S. financial firms to report results. American Express (AXP), US Bancorp (USB), Textron (TXT) and Abbott Laboratories (ABT) will also report earnings.
On the economic data side, the Federal Reserve’s latest Beige Book will be the highlight. Due out at 2 p.m. ET, this report is a summary of economic anecdotes from each of the Fed’s 12 districts and helps serve as a basis for the economic discussion that will take place at the Fed’s two-day policy meeting set to kick off on May 1.
Is this the top?
Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s latest global fund manager survey was released on Tuesday.
And it shows a bit of a lack of faith among some market bulls.
According to the firm, which polled 176 money managers across the globe, 39% of respondents think that the market hasn’t peaked and won’t peak until next year or later.
Which leaves 61% of investors, according to the survey, looking for a top to come this year. Or, perhaps more notably, 18% of folks who think we’ve already peaked.
Last week, stocks logged gains in choppy trading, and through the first two days of this week, positive market action has brought the Dow and S&P 500 into positive figures for the year.
And so for the first time in several weeks, perhaps since January, there’s a more constructive view on the market on offer. The lows made in early February were only briefly tested in March, and former leaders such as Netflix (NFLX) — which had been beaten down amid the broad selling of tech names in March — are once again soaring higher.
But this survey also comes as some market strategists are more skeptical about the health of corporate earnings and the economic cycle at large.
Morgan Stanley, in a note on Tuesday, said that earnings growth from tax cuts is not likely to be as highly-valued by investors as during the global upturn in the economy which took hold in 2016.
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Myles Udland is a writer at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter @MylesUdland
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