Cyclicals vs. Defensives Performance Cyclical sectors’ strong performance suggests economic optimism, but investors must be cautious about potential overvaluation and risks, especially when buying cyclical stocks late in the economic cycle. Image: Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research
Indexed Return of Cyclicals vs. Defensives ex. Commodities and ISM Manufacturing Index U.S. equity sector rotations are pricing in a “no landing” economic scenario, where the U.S. economy avoids both recession and significant slowdown, maintaining steady growth instead. Image: Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research
MSCI Cyclicals/Defensives Return During anticipated economic expansions, investors lean towards cyclical stocks for their growth potential, while defensive stocks serve as a buffer during economic downturns. Image: Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research
U.S. Stocks – Cyclicals vs. Defensives Investor sentiment is often reflected in the performance of cyclicals versus defensives. Typically, expectations of economic growth lead to a preference for cyclicals, resulting in their outperformance relative to defensives. Image: Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research
Cyclicals vs. Defensives Performance and U.S. 10-Year Treasury Yield The rise in yields is confirming the relative strength of U.S. cyclical stocks as they respond positively to favorable economic indicators while U.S. defensive stocks face pressure. Image: Morgan Stanley Research
Stocks – Cyclicals vs. Defensives Cyclicals and defensives are useful indicators of investor sentiment. As investors expect economic contractions, they often shift towards defensives, resulting in their outperformance compared to cyclicals. Image: Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research
Hedge Funds’ Cyclical vs. Defensive Positioning During economic expansion, investors favor cyclicals over defensives. The current low hedge fund exposure to cyclical vs. defensive sectors may present a potential opportunity for contrarian investors. Image: BofA Global Research
Cyclical Sectors’ Relative Performance vs. Defensive Sectors Around the First Fed Cut After the first Fed interest rate cut, defensive stocks have historically shown stronger performance relative to cyclical stocks. Image: BofA US Equity & Quant Strategy
ISM Manufacturing PMI vs. Cyclicals/Defensives Ratio Could the ISM Manufacturing PMI fall into contraction territory? Image: The Daily Shot
Cyclical/Defensive Equities Ratio vs. 10-Year Treasury Yield The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield and the cyclicals/defensives ratio have decoupled. Image: Morgan Stanley Research
Relative Valuations – Defensive Value vs. S&P 500 Defensive value continues to outperform and looks cheaper than the S&P 500. Image: Topdown Charts