Can Energy and Defense Stocks Rally Following the Allied Airstrike in Syria?

Defense stocks surged on April 7, following the first U.S. strike to punish the Syrian regime. We think that we will likely see a similar response by investors following last night’s airstrike on chemical weapons facilities in Syria.

The Fidelity Select Defense and Aerospace Fund (FSDAX) has outperformed the broad market for more than a year. We anticipate that the strong trend will continue in the wake of allied airstrikes in Syria.

 

We also think that the increased risk of escalation of the Syrian conflict and the potential for disruption of oil production could lead to higher oil prices and the continuation of the bullish rally for energy stocks.

The price of the West-Texas Intermediate Crude Oil (WTIC) could reach the $70 per barrel mark next week in response to increased geopolitical risks.

 

The energy sector experienced a 20% correction at the beginning of 2018 but seems to be recovering again in response to higher oil prices. The Fidelity Select Energy Fund (FSENX) could be a great way to play this trend.

 

View fund rankings at FidelitySectorReport.com

 

 

 

 

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Stock Market Correction Continues with a New Wave of Selling

The stock market started the second quarter with heavy selling. The S&P 500 index dropped by more than 2%:

 

Technology and consumer discretionary stocks led the sell-off, including Intel (down -6.07%), Amazon (down -5.21%), Netflix (down -5.10%) and Facebook (down -2.75%).

Not surprisingly, mutual funds with large holdings in these names declined the most today:

 

Investors were selling other high-risk assets too, such as biotechnology shares:

 

With the dollar no longer falling versus the major currencies, international investments in Europe and Asia are becoming less attractive, as well:

 

Remarkably, all sector funds closed down today. In our view, this rare occurrence may signal a significant shift in investor sentiment towards a more bearish stance.

The momentum rankings of Fidelity sector funds show that the defense sector and some sub-sectors of technology are the strongest relative to other sectors:

 

Furthermore, the charts below show that both the Fidelity Select Defense and Aerospace Fund (FSDAX) and the Fidelity Select IT Services Fund (FBSOX) stayed above their respective 100-day moving average.

 

We use the 100-day moving average to assess the direction of seasonal, or intermediate-term, trends. The only other Fidelity sector fund that is above its 100-day moving average is the Fidelity Select Utilities Fund (FSUTX):

 

Overall, in our assessment, most sectors that make up the U.S. stock market are turning bearish in the short to intermediate-term timeframe, which could lead to further downside risk.

 

View fund rankings at FidelitySectorReport.com

 

 

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