If you're thinking of paring the commodities exposure in your portfolio, welcome to the herd. One-third of the participants in a Bloomberg survey of 1,263 analysts, investors and traders plan to hold more cash, and 30 per cent say they will reduce their exposure to commodities, as optimism over economic growth subsides.
As many as 40 per cent expect oil to fall in the next six months. More than half expect silver to decline as well. Sixteen per cent identified commodities as one of the markets that will suffer the worst returns over the next year, more than double the proportion that said that in January.
As far as optimism about the stock market goes, 40 per cent plan to increase their equities exposure over the next six months, down from 60 per cent in the last poll in January. Less than half see the Standard & Poor's 500 Index rising during the next six months -- in fact, about one-quarter say they expect it to fall.
The best country to invest in? The United States came out on top, with 31 per cent of the vote, followed by Brazil and China. Japan was picked by 15 per cent of the respondents, which is almost double the number who chose it in January, before the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster.
And the worst markets? The European Union (38 per cent), followed by the Middle East.
The poll, which surveyed participants around the world, was conducted on Monday and Tuesday of this week.
Sonali Verma