JPMorgan strategist stays negative on stocks as other Wall Street bears cave

A top strategist for JPMorgan is sticking with a pessimistic outlook for stocks despite a strong start to 2024 that’s winning over other Wall Street skeptics. Marko Kolanovic said in a note to clients on Monday evening that the rally in stocks has not changed his opinion that equities are the wrong place to be right now. “A negative stance on equities has hurt the performance of our multi-asset portfolio over the past year, though this has been in part compensated by an [overweight] in commodities and high cash and fixed income yields. However, with very high equity valuations (as well as tight credit spreads and low levels of volatility), we do not see equities as attractive investments at the moment and we don’t see a reason to change our stance,” Kolanovic wrote. The JPMorgan note comes shortly after strategists from Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley raised their forecasts for the S & P 500. The stock market has outrun most Wall Street projections so far this year, with the S & P 500 up more than 11%. .SPX YTD mountain The S & P 500 has already surpassed the original year-end 2024 targets from major Wall Street strategists. However, signs of a weakening consumer along with elevated interest rates and inflation readings are some of the reasons to remain skeptical on equities, Kolanovic said. “We don’t think that narrow themes like AI chips can compensate for all of those traditional market challenges that historically worked against the cycle,” the strategist wrote. Kolanovic’s JPMorgan colleague Dubravko Lakos-Bujas has the lowest S & P 500 target — 4,200 — among major strategists, according to the CNBC Market Strategist Survey . That target is roughly 21% below where the index closed Monday. — CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed reporting.