Markets rise, could “take more of a breather” soon

Markets were mostly higher on Wednesday.

The S&P 500 rose 0.2 percent, the STOXX Europe 600 rose 0.1 percent and the Nikkei 225 rose 1.0 percent.

Mark Hackett, chief of investment research at Nationwide, noted that “sentiment and risk indicators continue to reflect investor optimism, with credit spreads at their tightest level since before the pandemic, fear & greed indicators at elevated levels, and the put/call ratio near historic lows.”

“In 2021, the U.S. economy should experience strong tailwinds from additional fiscal and monetary stimulus coupled with an end to the pandemic’s impact on the economy,” said Brent Schutte, chief investment strategist for Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management.

Some analysts, however, have expressed concern over the speed of the market rally so far this year.

“These benchmark moves had even long-term bulls like us wondering if the stock markets are climbing the proverbial ‘wall of worry’ too fast for this early in a year,” said John Stoltzfus, Oppenheimer Asset Management’s chief investment strategist.

Goldman Sachs Chief Economist Jan Hatzius said that US stocks and bond markets could possibly “take more of a breather” in the near term.