Source: Wall Street News

Compared to its cautious attitude in the middle of this month, asset management giant BlackRock has begun to show optimistic expectations about the US economy and US stock trends.

On Monday, January 29th, BlackRock said it would upgrade the US stock rating from “neutral” to “gain weight” because it is expected that the US economy will usher in a “soft landing.”

BlackRock also said that if inflation and interest rates fall in the next few months, the upward trend in the stock market driven by artificial intelligence will spread to fields other than technology stocks.

Another cooling in US inflation data also supports BlackRock's view. On Friday, January 26, the Federal Reserve's favorite inflation indicator, the December core PCE price index, rose 2.9% year on year, hitting a new low since March 2021. Investors generally expect that the Federal Reserve may cut interest rates this spring, given that inflation is falling faster than expected. However, at present, some Federal Reserve officials say they are worried that interest rates may be raised again after interest rate cuts to cope with the rebound in inflation.

In the previous January 16 ratings, BlackRock had a neutral view of US stocks and preferred artificial intelligence concept stocks. Its strategists believed that US stocks were “overvalued.” BlackRock also warned at the time that the market had underestimated the repetitive nature of inflation, and that the “roller coaster” rebound in inflation might disrupt investors' hopes for a “soft landing” for the US economy.

Editor/Corrine