US stocks rose, headed toward an eighth year of a bull run led by a rebound in energy shares amid speculation central banks will continue to provide stimulus to bolster sluggish global growth.
The S&P 500 climbed 0.5% to 1,988.84 in New York, after the benchmark lost 1.1% on Tuesday, the most in two weeks, Bloomberg reported.
On the seventh anniversary of a bull market that has restored $14 trillion to stock values, investors are still worried about shrinking earnings, China’s economic slowdown and uncertainty over interest rates. While the S&P 500 has surged almost 200% since the low on March 9, 2009, it has only gained 0.5% in the past 18 months.
The equity benchmark halted its longest rally in five months Tuesday, while a measure of volatility jumped the most in two weeks. Still, the gauge has climbed 8.2% since a low last month amid a rebound in banks and commodity shares, trimming its decline this year to 3.2% from as much as 11%.
Doubleline Capital LP’s Jeffrey Gundlach said the S&P 500 has about 2% upside and 20% downside, making for a lousy risk-reward tradeoff.
Betting on stocks is a “big losing proposition,” he said Tuesday, and the recent rebound is a “bear market rally.”
Market turmoil early this year, spurred by anxiety over the impact of weakening growth in China, led investors to lower expectations for further rate increases in 2016, though improving measures of the economy and the equity rebound have recently lifted bets.
