By Sam Boughedda
BofA analysts said Tuesday that futures positioning remains "mildly bullish" across most indices.
There were subdued changes taking place over the last week, the analysts said in a research note, with the past two weeks seeing a combination of "sluggish and often marginal daily position changes emerge across U.S. and European indices."
"Investors are net long the S&P and mildly short Nasdaq, with positioning risks higher for the latter," wrote the analysts. "In Europe, investors are net long across all indices, however, profit levels are small."
Focusing on U.S. equities, they explained mixed flows through the week ended with a net rise in long positioning in S&P and continued development of bearish positioning in Nasdaq.
"For both indices, positioning is not near extremes, with last week's activity leading to a continued rise in bearish positioning for Nasdaq, primarily from investors unwinding longs," stated the analysts.
"Although aggregate loss levels have fallen, Nasdaq short positioning losses (-6.9%) remain elevated, and with that the continued risk of further short covering. ETF flows were broadly in line with futures activity, with net outflows for Nasdaq."