Need to Know: Here’s the surprising reason the tech stock rally may have room to run, says a Fidelity strategist

Alertness and nimble thinking is required. Denise Chisholm (no relation), director of quantitative market strategy at Fidelity, says that investors should be wary of relying too much on their gut instincts, so she analyzes market history to uncover patterns and probabilities that can help inform the current outlook.

And Chisholm has come up with what she says are three surprising investing ideas to consider now.

First, tech stocks and why the current rally could have staying power. The S&P Technology Select Sector index by late this month had gained some 40% for the year to date, yet this surge came as profits for the sector declined in the 12 months through May, she notes.

Chisholm looked at other periods when tech outperformed even as the sector’s profits fell and found the market historically has been good at anticipating earnings rebounds for tech.

“In fact, after 12-month periods when tech profits have fallen but tech stocks have outperformed, the sector’s earnings then went on to more than double over the next 12 months on average, based on data going back to 1962. And the stocks outperformed the broad market by an average of 7 percentage points during those periods,” says Chisholm.

“Past performance is never a guarantee of future results. But if tech stocks have been surging in anticipation of an earnings recovery, then it’s possible this tech rally could have room to run,” she adds.

Next, consumer discretionary stocks. Although purveyors of non-essential goods may be expected to struggle during an economic downturn, Chisholm sees three reasons to be bullish.

The sector is looking cheap, with its price-to-book ratio relative to that of the broader market in the bottom 25% of its historical range, as low as it was during the pandemic in 2020. “After trading at similar levels in the past, the sector has outperformed the market by an average of 4 percentage points over the following 12 months,” says Chisholm.

Falling inflation allows households to spend more on non-essential goods and services. The consumer discretionary sector outperformed the market 70% of the time when considering rolling 12-month periods when inflation was cooling.

Also, the current tightness of bank lending — the sector’s willingness to lend this spring hit the bottom 10% of its range since the mid-1960’s — may seem bad for consumer discretionary, but historically has served as a contrarian indicator.

“When bank willingness to lend hit the bottom 10% of its range in the past, consumer discretionary went on to beat the market more than 75% of the time over the next 12 months—the best odds of any sector,” says Chisholm.

Finally, there’s industrials, where the set up is similar to consumer discretionary. In the second quarter, industrials’ relative price-to-book ratios dropped to the lowest 25% of of its historical range. “After bottom-quartile relative valuations historically, the sector outperformed the market over the next 12 months more than 70% of the time,” says Chisholm.

In addition, the latest Institute for Supply Management manufacturing new orders index dropped to the lowest 5% of its historical range since 1962. That makes it easier to beat expectations, and historically the index’s fall to such levels also left industrials with a more than 70% chance of beating the market over the next 12 months.

“To be sure, there’s no shortage of economic headwinds, and past performance is no guarantee of future results. But my research suggests reasons to remain positive on the stock market—and especially on the technology, consumer discretionary, and industrials sectors,” Chisholm concludes.

Markets

U.S. stock-index futures
ES00,
+0.38%

NQ00,
+0.79%
are higher as benchmark Treasury yields
TMUBMUSD10Y,
3.965%
dip. The dollar is little changed, while oil prices slip and gold goes higher.

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The buzz

Two data points that are closely watched by the Fed as gauges of underlying inflationary pressures in the economy will be released on Friday. The core personal consumption expenditure index for June and the employment cost index, for the second quarter, will be published at 8:30 a.m. Eastern.

Other economic data on Friday include the July consumer sentiment survey at 10 a.m.

The second quarter earnings season rumbles on. Among those presenting their results on Friday are Exxon Mobil
XOM,
+0.31%,
Procter & Gamble
PG,
-1.19%,
Chevron
CVX,
-1.04%
and Colgate-Palmolive
CL,
-1.09%.

Intel stock
INTC,
+0.55%
is jumping 8% in Friday’s premarket action after the company said PC and data-center sales beat expectations.

Roku shares
ROKU,
-4.59%
are up 10% after the streaming-media company’s earnings and outlook exceeded forecasts.

Enphase Energy’s 
ENPH,
-3.78%
stock is tanking 13% after the company reported revenue that fell short of analysts’ estimates and offered a weak forecast.

The Bank of Japan confirmed that it was tweaking its yield curve control policy, sparking volatility in the yen
USDJPY,
-0.18%
and pushing 10-year government bond yields
TMBMKJP-10Y,
0.550%
at one point to their highest since 2014.

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The chart

Retail investors have been wary of the latest part of the stock market rally, data from Vanda Research suggests.

“Over the past five trading sessions ending Wednesday, retail traders bought an average of $1.08 billion worth of securities per day, significantly dipping below the post-Covid daily average of $1.2 billion for the first time since early May. This is not all bad news for U.S. equities as retail’s pullback likely implies that stickier institutional capital has supported the more recent leg of the rally…Seasonality and thematic rotations are behind the recent decline in overall net retail purchases,” says Vanda.

Top tickers

Here were the most active stock-market tickers on MarketWatch as of 6 a.m. Eastern.

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