NEW YORK - U.S. stocks are at fresh records, bitcoin is soaring and investors are spurning insurance against portfolio declines as evidence that the economy is headed for a so-called soft landing whets market participants' appetite for risk.
Meanwhile, participants’ growing confidence was reflected in a survey of fund managers by BofA Global Research: the firm’s broadest measure of investor sentiment, based on cash levels, equity allocations and economic growth expectations, stood at its most bullish since November 2021. The one month average daily trading in calls outnumber puts 1.2-to-1, the most bullish this measure has been in about a month, according to data from Options analytics firm Trade Alert.
Hopes that softening U.S. economic data may give the Fed the leeway to cut rates later this year has pressured the dollar in recent sessions. The greenback, a popular haven during uncertain times, has dipped 2% against a basket of its peers since hitting a 17-month high in mid-April.