The S&P 500 is behaving like a freight-train, as of late.
This train registered a gain of 10.61% this quarter with the Health Care sector leading the way with its 15.22% gain. The Consumer Staples sector also posted a very nice return of 13.77%. In fact, all sectors showed positive returns. The “lagging” sector was Basic Materials and it showed a gain of 4.17%. To be quite frank, 4.17% is a really solid return, particularly in light of current interest rate levels.
There is no doubt in my mind that this generalized appreciation in the market is due to rising sentiment. The U of M Sentiment Survey is not registering an optimistic reading yet, but it is well off its lows. This could imply the market has further to run, but, regardless, we need to keep our eyes on market-related data and strive to stay ahead of this train.
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