End of Summer Update on our Sector Views

Today in the podcast an update on our own sector views and the outlooks of our US analyst team. Three big things you need to know: First, in our latest RBC US equity analyst survey, taken in late August 2022, our analysts leaned modestly positive in their outlooks for performance over the next 6-12 months, and also had modestly positive views on valuations and demand. The most constructive outlooks were found in Energy, Financials, Health Care, and Tech and offset more pessimistic outlooks for Consumer Staples, Consumer Discretionary, Communication Services and Materials. Second, our analysts don’t seem particularly alarmed about the buyback and corporate tax provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act, but our survey suggests the latter will be more relevant to the stock market. Third, our analysts’ latest sector views support our own, ongoing US Equity Strategy overweights on Energy, Financials, Health Care, and Technology and our underweights on Consumer Staples and Communication Services. Given our concerns about another bout of volatility in stocks in the coming months and a potential pause in the Growth leadership trade, Health Care, Energy, and Financials look most intriguing to us at the moment, but we continue to like Tech as a longer-term rebound play.