The S&P 500 is at the start of a new bull market after gaining more than 20% following its October lows. Its current run to the bull market of 248 trading days marks the longest bear run on the S&P since 1948.
“We are back in bull territory, which might be part of what it takes to get investors enthusiastic about equities again,” Savita Subramanian and the equity strategy team at Bank of America Global Research wrote in a note on Friday. “If investors feel pain in bonds, via lower returns or negative opportunity costs – likely if real rates rise from here – they should be incented to return to equities, especially equities that benefit from rising real rates (cyclical).”
According to research from the Bank of America, the S&P 500 rose 92% of the time throughout the 12 months since its bull market rise began. The historical average rise for any 12 months since 1950 is 75%.
While the bull market may be back, investors remain apprehensive to jump back into stock trading. One determining factor that will affect investor confidence is the Federal Reserve’s next interest rate decision at its June meeting. Currently, markets expect the Fed to pause its rate-hiking process.