Markets fall amid “overbought” signs

Markets were mostly lower on Monday.

The S&P 500 fell 0.3 percent, the STOXX Europe 600 dipped 0.05 percent and the Nikkei 225 fell 0.9 percent.

Some analysts remain optimistic on stocks.

Mark Haefele, UBS’ chief investment officer, said that while inflation data could drive further bouts of volatiliy, “we don’t see inflation concerns ending the rally in stocks”.

However, other analysts are cautious.

Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou, a managing director at JPMorgan, said in a note that last week’s volatility is “also a warning sign of how overbought equity markets have become”.

“Investor and equity analyst reactions to earnings results reveal skepticism that 1Q beats provide a reason for additional forward-looking optimism,” wrote David Kostin, Goldman Sachs’ chief US equity strategist.