U.S. shares fell on Monday, because the three main indexes got here off a stable month of buying and selling beneficial properties in July, leaving buyers questioning as soon as once more if the bear market rally is truly fizzling out, or if this was only a slight blip in a bigger rebound. July noticed all three main indexes clock their greatest month since 2020, with the blue chip Dow Jones Industrial Common climbing 6.7% final month, whereas the broad-based S & P 500 added 9.1%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite notched the largest acquire, rising 12.4% as buyers flocked to snap up beaten-down tech shares. Buyers are additionally betting that the U.S. Federal Reserve could gradual the tempo of its rate of interest hikes following a second-straight detrimental quarter for GDP within the U.S., whereas a better-than-expected second-quarter earnings season additionally contributed to the buoyant temper on Wall Road. “With 279 S & P 500 firms comprising 71% of index earnings have reported earnings, second quarter earnings per share is monitoring a stable 3% beat,” Financial institution of America ‘s strategists, led by Savita Subramanian, wrote in a word on Sunday. “Total, outcomes have been higher than feared, particularly with extra above-consensus steering than under, which was the largest constructive shock,” she added. Does the rosy backdrop portend the underside of the bear market? CNBC Professional takes a have a look at what Wall Road execs are saying. The bears UBS is satisfied that July’s good exhibiting is nothing greater than a bear market rally. “We see this current rally as a bear market pullback slightly than a turning level for the markets. Essentially, the image hasn’t modified. There may be nonetheless a excessive stage of uncertainty on how far inflation will fall this 12 months and the way the Fed will reply to any weakening in payroll knowledge if inflation stays sticky,” Solita Marcelli, chief funding officer for the Americas at UBS World Wealth Administration, mentioned within the August version of the financial institution’s Funding Technique Information. “We may have two months of knowledge on inflation and payrolls earlier than the Fed’s subsequent assembly, and loads can change in that time frame,” she warned. Inflation has remained persistently excessive this 12 months amid hovering vitality and meals costs. Shopper costs in the USA rose 9.1% in June from a 12 months in the past, whereas the private consumption expenditures value index — the Fed’s major barometer for inflation — made its highest 12-month acquire in additional than 40 years. Financial institution of America’s strategists have made an analogous evaluation. “We stay of the view this can be a bear rally,” Michael Hartnett, the financial institution’s chief funding strategist, wrote in a word on July 28. Subramanian, head of fairness and quantitative technique at BofA Securities, agrees. In a word on Sunday, she mentioned the financial institution’s “bull market signposts” point out it’s “untimely” to name a backside, whereas earnings per share estimates additionally stay too excessive. “Through the prior 5 recessions, the S & P 500 bottomed after estimates have been revised down, besides in 1990 when ahead EPS remained flat when the market bottomed. However at present, estimate cuts are simply beginning and ahead EPS continues to be up 7% for the reason that market peak,” Subramanian mentioned. “Furthermore, bear markets at all times ended after the Fed minimize, which probably is at the very least six months away,” she added. Barclays strategist Emmanuel Cau can also be “unimpressed” by the rally. “Markets are rallying on the hope the Fed can forestall a tough touchdown, disregarding the chance that the slowdown accelerates and causes additional headwinds to company fundamentals. Q2 earnings will not be the catastrophe some have been predicting, however combined steering presents little consolation. This rally feels unsettling to us, we might fade it,” he mentioned on Friday. The financial institution famous that danger property have rallied on “each single” Fed assembly since March however ultimately offered off after. “We imagine that may occur once more this time. Financing circumstances are tightening shortly each within the US and globally, and financial development is effectively under development,” Barclays strategist Bradley Rogoff wrote in a separate word on July 29. The lone bull Whereas most market watchers seem unequivocally bearish, a lone bull stands out. The unstable bear market that has rocked shares for the previous few months is over, Fundstrat World Advisors’ Tom Lee declared . The agency’s head of analysis mentioned in a word to shoppers that current occasions sign that the “backside is in” and that shares may hit new highs by the top of the 12 months. “That is the August 1982 second, backside is in, however Fed is 2 months away from a pivot,” Lee wrote. He was referring to the bear market backside of 1982, which took place after then Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker raised the federal funds charge from 11.2% to twenty% in a sequence of sharp rate of interest hikes to fight inflation. However the market staged an astonishing comeback to get better to its prior peak in simply 68 days , or just a little greater than two months. Lee mentioned shares may hit new highs by the top of the 12 months, with the S & P 500 breaking again above 4,800. The benchmark hit an intraday report of 4,818.62 in early January. All eyes are actually on Friday’s nonfarm payrolls report popping out of the USA, which ought to present better readability on the energy of the labor market — a carefully watched indicator that might decide the Fed’s subsequent plan of action at its September assembly. Slated to report earnings this week are 148 S & P 500 firms. — CNBC’s Samantha Subin contributed reporting