US stocks rise even as Americans see recession around the corner

Markets were mostly higher on Wednesday.

The S&P 500 rose 0.9 percent and the STOXX Europe 600 rose 0.4 percent. Earlier in the day, the Nikkei 225 fell 0.2 percent.

Slowing growth and fears of a possible recession could hold back stocks though.

The latest Allianz Quarterly Market Perceptions Study in the US showed that 50 percent of respondents see a major recession right around the corner, an increase from 46 percent earlier this year.

35 percent of respondents said that now is a good time to invest in the market, down from over 40 percent at the beginning of the year.

Indeed, Stephen Gallagher, the chief US economist for Societe Generale, thinks that an erosion in corporate profit margins will push the US economy into a recession in 2020.