The US investors are bullish on the outlook for US and global equities and their expectations for global and domestic equities at the highest levels recorded this year, reveals a new study by TradeStation.
TradeStation, a Monex Group company has announced results of the "Monex Global Retail Investor Survey, Vol. 15," which finds U.S. investors’ confidence soaring.
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In the online survey conducted in December 2014, U.S. investors’ perception of the global equities markets continued to brighten – fully 60% of survey respondents expect global stocks to gain ground in the first quarter of 2015, up from 45% in the September survey and roughly double the 29% figure recorded just six months ago in June 2014.
The percentage of survey respondents who see the global equities markets losing ground in the next three months also continued its steady decline, down to 27%.
U.S. investors are especially bullish on the prospects for U.S. equities and the U.S. dollar. Seventy percent of those surveyed expect U.S. stocks to outperform stocks in Europe/U.K., Asia (excluding Japan) and Japan in the first quarter of 2015, while 81% expect the U.S. dollar to strengthen the most of any currency over the next three months.
Outside the U.S., China retains its favored status, with nearly half (46%) of U.S. investors saying that China is poised for the strongest GDP growth of all markets outside the U.S. in 2015.
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By GlobalDataOptions/futures, ETFs and stocks head up the list of perceived gainers by asset class – 77%, 75% and 72% of those surveyed, respectively, say these instruments present attractive opportunities in 2015. Technology and healthcare topped the list of favored market sectors, as roughly three of four investors believe these areas will experience gains over the next three months.
Investors’ increasingly favorable outlook is also evident in expectations for their own trading volume over the next 12 months. Just over half (53%) say they expect their trading volume to increase in 2015, while a mere one in 20 investors (5%) said they expect to trade less over the coming year.
Finally, investors have pushed back their expectations for changes in Federal Reserve Bank monetary policy. Overall, 62% of survey respondents expect the Fed to begin raising interest rates in 2015; however, of these investors, roughly five in six – 53% of survey respondents overall – don’t expect the Fed to take action until the second half of 2015.
"As 2014 draws to a close, the U.S. economy appears to be strengthening, and that in turn seems to be having a positive influence on how investors perceive the equities markets, the dollar and their own trading activity going forward," said Salomon Sredni, CEO of TradeStation Group, Inc. and COO of Monex Group, Inc. "We at TradeStation look forward to doing everything we can to help them take advantage of these market opportunities in the coming year."
Monex has been conducting its monthly retail investor survey with its Japanese clients since October 2009. The "Monex Global Retail Investor Survey," covering retail clients in Japan, Hong Kong and the U.S., was launched in June 2011 and is conducted on a quarterly basis. Please refer to the full report for complete results.
