Wall Street consensus says the U.S. stands alone as a beacon of economic growth while the rest of the world economy is stumbling, but Nuveen's Bob Doll says that's wrong — he sees global growth ready to percolate again.
Doll, chief equity strategist at Nuveen Asset Management, suggests in his
weekly commentary that fears about global growth that helped spark last month's 10 percent stock market sell-off were overblown.
"Global risk assets have rebounded nicely following the recent correction, a move we believe reflects the strength of the U.S. economy and improving data," he said.
"Falling oil prices are a signal of weaker demand and have contributed to deflationary concerns; however, we also believe that lower energy prices should help support growth in the United States, Europe, China and Japan."
Against that broader backdrop, Doll is optimistic about U.S. equities.
He pointed out an improving jobs picture, a rise in manufacturing, mid-term election results that should boost the economy and bright quarterly earnings news.
Real success with renewed growth in the developed world, notably in Japan and Europe, is partly dependent on their pursuit of sound monetary policies, according to Doll.
"Among the developed markets, Japan is aggressively changing course and the Bank of Japan appears determined to do what is necessary to enact pro-growth policies. The eurozone is still struggling and we believe the European Central Bank has more work to do to combat deflation."
In the meantime, Doll thinks it is still wise for investors to stay committed to stocks.
"Certain areas of the global economy are weak, policymakers could make mistakes and geopolitical issues could flare up, but we think these concerns would need to intensify materially to derail the ongoing recovery. As such, we continue to believe equity prices can make gains over the coming months and years, a backdrop that provides support for maintaining overweight positions in equities."
In an interview with
CNBC and Yahoo's Talking Numbers, Gerardo Rodriguez, senior investment strategist at BlackRock's emerging markets group, rang the bell for emerging market stocks.
Rodriguez noted that emerging markets have 51 percent of the world's GDP and 84 percent of the population, but they have only 12 percent of global stock market capitalization.
That represents a big opportunity, he argued, because as those overlooked economies grow and achieve a higher share of global GDP, he predicts investors are sure to follow.
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