Investor sentiment plunges to 16-month low, AAII survey reveals

Investor sentiment fell to its lowest level since 2025, a weekly survey from the American Association of Individual Investors confirmed, as oil costs remained elevated whereas the Federal Reserve raised rates of interest for the primary time since 2023.

More than half of buyers (53.3%) responding to the most recent survey from AAII, launched Friday, mentioned they have been bearish. Just 28.8% of buyers are bullish, the bottom studying in a 12 months.

All advised, the unfold between the variety of bulls and bears out there has fallen to -24.5%, which is “unusually low” and beneath its historic common of 6.5% for the ninth consecutive week, Charles Rotblut, vice-president of the American Association of Individual Investors, mentioned in a launch. The studying is the bottom since May 2025.

Traders typically use the sentiment gauge as a contrarian indicator, with a excessive studying displaying complacency and a low one indicating investor fear. The newest consequence comes with the S&P 500 Index some 2% from its all-time excessive following a interval of late-summer volatility.The newest survey additionally confirmed over half of respondents had bigger allocations to money than regular — an indication of warning. Indeed, 19.1% of respondents mentioned their money allocations have been “a lot increased than regular.”