Small caps may need very hot or cold, no in-between
S&P 500, Dow turn red; Nasdaq ~flat
Energy leads S&P 500 gainers; healthcare weakest group
Dollar up slightly; crude up >2%; bitcoin jumps <5%; gold dips
U.S. 10-Year Treasury yield edges up to ~3.65%
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SMALL CAPS MAY NEED VERY HOT OR COLD, NO IN-BETWEEN
The Russell 2000 .RUT small cap index was on track for its fifth straight day of gains on Tuesday and was just roughly 3% below its July 31st intraday record high.
The sector has come into favor recently as investors have been preparing for the start of the Federal Reserve rate cutting cycle, due on Wednesday. Smaller companies are more sensitive to interest rate changes as they are more dependent than larger cap companies on floating rate loans.
Patrick Palfrey, strategist at UBS said in research issued Tuesday that unprofitable small cap companies should benefit more than profit-making peers from Fed rate cuts. He notes that 27% of companies in the RUT are non-earners, negative in both trailing and expected earnings.
Palfrey says that the loss making companies are 2.5 times more sensitive to rate changes than profitable small caps and 8 times more sensitive than large cap companies.
However, in her note issued on Monday, RBC's head of global equity strategy research, Lori Calvasina wrote that "valuations are no longer cheap" for the RUT and "positioning is back to 3-year highs."
"We think much of the easy money from Fed cuts in Small Caps has been made, and that for Small Caps to see a sustained outperformance trade take hold, either a recession needs to occur (when Small Caps benefit from anticipation of cyclical recovery) or near-term economic tailwinds need to improve," Calvasina wrote.
And even if the economy manages a soft landing she said "we suspect a hot economy rather than a so-so economy is needed for this economically sensitive part of the equity market to embark on a longer-term outperformance cycle."
The RUT was last up 0.8% on the day while year-to-date it is up 9.8%.
In comparison the S&P 500 .SPX was down 0.2% on the day, and is up ~17.9% YTD.
(Sinéad Carew)
*****
FOR TUESDAY'S EARLIER LIVE MARKETS POSTS:
WHAT HAPPENS TO YIELDS AFTER THE FED? THREE SCENARIOS - CLICK HERE
TUESDAY DATA: LESS UNHAPPY DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN - CLICK HERE
S&P 500 FLIRTS WITH RECORD HIGHS - CLICK HERE
ACTIVE INVESTING BACK IN VOGUE AMONG RETIREMENT ADVISERS, SURVEY SHOWS - CLICK HERE
S&P 500 INDEX EYES ITS RECORD HIGHS, GETS SET FOR FED - CLICK HERE -CLICK HERE
YEN RALLY: SLAM DUNK OR WIDOWMAKER? - CLICK HERE
EUROPEAN CYCLICALS READY TO REBOUND - MORGAN STANLEY - CLICK HERE
EUROPEAN BANKS CHEAP ENOUGH TO ABSORB RATE CUTS - UBS - CLICK HERE
CAN TRUMP WEAKEN THE DOLLAR? - CLICK HERE
STOXX ON THE UP - CLICK HERE
EUROPEAN FUTURES EDGE HIGHER ON FED OPTIMISM - CLICK HERE
YEN'S BIG WEEK BEGINS - CLICK HERE
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