FxWirePro: S&P500 likely to rise further; retail sentiment in favor

Bulls remain in charge,

• Since bottoming in January, the U.S. benchmark stock index S&P500 has returned 18 percent so far, and price actions suggest that the benchmark would continue its upward march.
• Our calculations at FxWirePro suggests that S&P500 is likely to rise by another 2 percent or so and retest its all-time peak around 2940 (SPX500- CFD of S&P500).
• While selling is expected at the peak, our forecast suggests that the S&P500 index likely to test 3000 area before any meaningful selling pressure hits the index.
• The index (SPX500) is currently trading at

Retail sentiment remains in favor of the bulls,

• The sentiment reports from IG Markets, which is a UK-based company providing trading in financial derivatives such as contracts for difference and financial spread betting, strongly suggest that the broad trend is still bullish for S&P500 index.
• IG markets’ retail positions data provide a glimpse to retail traders’ positions, which are largely used a contrarian indicator since retail positioning moves in opposite direction to market movements.
• As of today, according to data from IG markets, only 26 percent of retail positions are bullish on S&P500, while 74 percent are on the short side, suggesting further upside possibility for the S&P500.