Investors Split on How Latest Coronavirus News Impacts Their Market Outlook

In this week’s Sentiment Survey special question, we asked AAII members how the current headlines and statistics about the coronavirus pandemic are impacting their sentiment toward the stock market. More than one-quarter (28%) of respondents say coronavirus-related news has little to no impact on their sentiment toward the stock market. This compares to 27% of respondents who say that coronavirus-related news makes them more cautious, given the uncertainty and stock market volatility.

Other respondents express long-term optimism about the stock market (15%), a belief about the virus having a moderate to large impact (8%) and worries about the stock market falling (6%).Additionally, 16% of respondents fell into the ‘other’ category which named the election, interest rates and federal efforts to boost the economy as more influential factors on their sentiment toward the stock market.

Here is a sampling of the responses:

• “There is too much overreaction to all of this coronavirus news. I’m in stock for the long haul and I don’t let the media impact how I invest.”
• “Until there is a vaccine, the chances of another sizable outbreak in the fall is non-trivial. The corporate earnings outlook is uncertain at best. I cannot find a rational explanation for the current levels of the markets other than pure speculation and hope.”
• “I feel that the direction that the stock market takes on a daily basis is largely driven by the news of the day, therefore I expect it to keep fluctuating fairly moderately until a vaccine is produced and becomes readily available.”
• “Would expect a second wave for the coronavirus to reset the unusual present market ebullience, resulting in a market decline that more closely reflects expected earnings for 2020.”

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