By Jennifer Ablan
NEW YORK, Sept 10 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks have entered a cyclical bull market and the S&P 500 index could rise modestly from current levels by the end of this year, Bob Doll, global chief investment officer for equities at BlackRock , said on Thursday.
Doll told Reuters in an interview that the 50-plus percent rise in the S&P index since its March lows to the current 1,044.14 level on Thursday suggests 'we are in a cyclical bull market.
'To me, a 'secular' bull market is one that has to take you to a new all-time high and I don't think we will go to 1,550 on the S&P,' in the current cycle, added Doll, also vice chairman at BlackRock, the New York-based investment company with $1.37 trillion in assets.
U.S. stocks gained for a fifth straight session on Thursday, their longest string of gains since November. Concurrently, the sale of 30-year Treasury bonds on Thursday met with strong investor demand.
Doll said he is not surprised that stocks and bonds are moving in the same direction, given the monetary stimulus in the system.
'We could still be at a point of a sweet spot for financial assets in general where the authorities are fighting economic weakness and that's when most financial assets go up,' he said.
But Doll said investors should not expect low-quality stocks to rally into the new year. He said he is positioning portfolios into more higher-quality names, including IBM(IBM.N), Amgen (AMGN.O) and ConocoPhillips (COP.N).
(Reporting by Jennifer Ablan; Editing by Dan Grebler) Keywords: BLACKROCK DOLL/STOCKS (jennifer.ablan@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646 223 6297; Reuters Messaging: jennifer.ablan.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
NEW YORK, Sept 10 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks have entered a cyclical bull market and the S&P 500 index could rise modestly from current levels by the end of this year, Bob Doll, global chief investment officer for equities at BlackRock , said on Thursday.
Doll told Reuters in an interview that the 50-plus percent rise in the S&P index since its March lows to the current 1,044.14 level on Thursday suggests 'we are in a cyclical bull market.
'To me, a 'secular' bull market is one that has to take you to a new all-time high and I don't think we will go to 1,550 on the S&P,' in the current cycle, added Doll, also vice chairman at BlackRock, the New York-based investment company with $1.37 trillion in assets.
U.S. stocks gained for a fifth straight session on Thursday, their longest string of gains since November. Concurrently, the sale of 30-year Treasury bonds on Thursday met with strong investor demand.
Doll said he is not surprised that stocks and bonds are moving in the same direction, given the monetary stimulus in the system.
'We could still be at a point of a sweet spot for financial assets in general where the authorities are fighting economic weakness and that's when most financial assets go up,' he said.
But Doll said investors should not expect low-quality stocks to rally into the new year. He said he is positioning portfolios into more higher-quality names, including IBM(IBM.N), Amgen (AMGN.O) and ConocoPhillips (COP.N).
(Reporting by Jennifer Ablan; Editing by Dan Grebler) Keywords: BLACKROCK DOLL/STOCKS (jennifer.ablan@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646 223 6297; Reuters Messaging: jennifer.ablan.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.