Markets rose on Friday.
The S&P 500 rose 0.1 percent, the STOXX Europe 600 rose 0.7 percent and the Nikkei 225 jumped 1.2 percent.
US economic data on Friday were mixed.
Personal income in July rose by a less-than-expected 0.1 percent but the 0.6 percent rise in personal spending was in line with the consensus.
The core PCE price index rose 0.2 percent in July while the year-on-year increase was 1.4 percent.
The Chicago Federal Reserve’s purchasing managers index for August came in at 50.4, up from 44.4 in July.
The University of Michigan’s revised index of consumer sentiment for August was 89.8, down from an initial reading of 92.1 and below the 98.4 reading in July.
Vasu Menon, executive director of investment strategy at Singapore’s OCBC Bank, said that while the bank has been “telling our clients to somewhat de-risk portfolios a month ago”, it also noted that “fundamentals are not that bad right now”.
“What’s dragging the market down is sentiment,” Menon said.
Indeed, Bank of America Merrill Lynch said in a research note on Friday that its flagship sentiment indicator had tumbled from 2.4 to 1.3. That has triggered a contrarian “buy signal” for risk assets.
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