Value opportunities still exist in shift to stock-picker’s market Helen Burnett-Nichols Published April 27, 2021
Estee Lauder Companies Inc. saw its skin care sales increase during lockdown and margins improve with direct-to-consumer online sales, but the makeup, fragrance, and duty-free segments of its business are expected to come back as economies reopen and travel resumes. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/Files
LUCY NICHOLSON/Reuters
Encouraged by rising interest rates on long-term bonds and optimism over global reopening plans, the rotation toward value and cyclical names took hold late last year and is expected to continue as economic activity picks up. But while opportunities are arguably not as plentiful as they were a few months ago, portfolio managers say there are still pockets of value to uncover in several sectors.
U.S. stock markets also shined, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite and S&P 500 reaching new closing and intraday highs.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 332.26 points at 31,055.86. The S&P 500 index was up 41.57 points at 3,871.74, while the Nasdaq was up 167.20 points at 13,377.74.
Investors were reacting to signs of an impending U.S. stimulus package and supportive economic data, said Anish Chopra, managing director with Portfolio Management Corp. Between stimulus to help the U.S. get through the COVID period and jobless claims falling below what s expected, just that whole package of positive economic news is certainly helping the markets, he said in an interview.
Canada on Wednesday approved its first COVID-19 vaccine and said initial shots will be delivered and administered across the country starting next week, while every Canadian will be able to be inoculated as early as the end of September.
Important to remember that, for now at least, COVID-19 is still calling the shots
Author of the article: Geoff Zochodne
Publishing date: Dec 29, 2020 • December 29, 2020 • 5 minute read • 2021 could be a comeback year for stocks that benefit from more freedom of movement, especially if they make sense in a world that isn’t going to just drop habits it picked up during the pandemic, such as shopping online. Photo by Walt Disney World/Getty Images/Reuters
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The investing tug of war between stay-at-home and out-and-about stocks isn’t over yet, but the pricey valuations of many pandemic “winners” and solid fundamentals elsewhere have some experts seeing growing potential in reopening-related plays heading into 2021.
Ross Marowits, The Canadian Press
On Jan. 1, investors celebrating Bay Street’s best returns since the global financial crisis couldn’t have known what kind of year they were about to face.
The year on stock exchanges was marked by swift and frequent changes in reaction to news events, with updates on the number of active Covid-19 cases or the latest round of vaccine trials moving the needle as much as traditional economic indicators like the unemployment rate or central bank policy changes.
With 2021 fast approaching, analysts are by and large are optimistic about the year to come. Still, they caution that the same volatility will likely colour the early part of 2021 as new waves of Covid infections emerge and full-scale vaccination remains months away.