Professional investors are gaining confidence in the stock market’s bull run, with sentiment reaching a six-month high, according to the latest Bank of America Global Fund Manager Survey. The Wall Street firm’s closely-watched sentiment gauge, which is based on fund managers’ cash levels, equity allocation, global growth expectations and is measured on a scale of 0-10, rose to 4.5 this month, the highest level since February, from 4.3 in July. BofA chief investment strategist Michael Hartnett, who compiled the report, said that while the bullish trend is visible, it’s “not a clear and obvious inflection point” in the survey. Supporting the money managers’ increasingly bullish stance is the belief that the U.S. is most likely going to avoid a recession. The probability of a hard landing dropped to just 5%, the lowest level since January, the Bank of America survey showed. .SPX YTD mountain S & P 500 in 2025. Fund managers also fell back in love with the “Magnificent 7” tech stocks, with 45% of them long these names. The majority (52%) of pro investors don’t see a bubble in artificial intelligence, the survey showed. The S & P 500 has rebounded more than 30% from its April lows, rallying back to record highs and pushing its 2025 gains to 8.6%. Investors have cheered second-quarter corporate profits that grew even in the face of higher tariffs, and have shrugged off recent, weak economic data, especially the labor market . While pro investors have become more bullish, a record net 91% of them still say U.S. equities are overvalued, Bank of America said. “Equity allocations on rise but not at extreme levels,” Hartnett concluded of the professional sentiment.
