Markets rise, bearish sentiment falls to lowest level in over a year

Markets rose on Friday. The S&P 500 rose 0.7 percent and the STOXX Europe 600 rose 0.4 percent.

Earlier in Asia, the Nikkei 225 rose 1.0 percent and the Shanghai Composite jumped 1.8 percent.

Manufacturing data in the US came in below expectations, denting market sentiment somewhat. The Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing index fell to 54.2 in February from 56.6 in January while Markit’s manufacturing PMI fell to 53.0 in February from 53.7 in January.

Still, market sentiment has been improving lately. Willie Delwiche noted that bearish sentiment based on the AAII survey "this week moved to their lowest level since January of last year", the "10-day CBOE put/call ratio has moved to its lowest level since September and the Investors Intelligence bull-bear spread has risen to 32%".

While optimism might "suggest that risks have risen", Delwiche also noted that longer-term breadth trends "remain mixed".