JPMorgan Traders Flip to Bullish View on US Stocks Ahead of Jobs Report

The trading desk at JPMorgan Chase & Co. flipped its view on US equities to bullish from tactically neutral, saying economic data and earnings will underpin a persistent market boom.

Stronger-than-expected economic activity, consumer resilience, robust corporate profit growth and signs that bond yields may stabilize drove the bank’s traders, led by Andrew Tyler, head of US market intelligence, to drop their cautious stance in the lead-up to Friday’s US jobs report.

“We now see a more favorable setup for markets as bond yields find a level and oil prices are likely to trend lower, albeit in a choppy fashion,” Tyler wrote in a note to clients on Monday morning.

Tyler, who correctly turned tactically cautious in early June ahead of a multiweek selloff in US stocks, also previously took a cautious view toward US stocks in late August after a hawkish speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh at Jackson Hole, which had led traders to increase bets on interest-rate hikes this year.

Nothing seems to faze traders lately; it’s been six months since the index suffered back-to-back declines of at least 1%. The S&P 500 Index hasn’t suffered a 1% decline in 41 sessions through Friday — its longest stretch since October 2025, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The last time it suffered a big loss was on July 29, a Fed rate-decision day, when the index slumped 1.5%.

Read More: JPMorgan’s Matejka Says Tech Stocks Look Ripe for Re-Engagement

As the calendar flips to October — historically the most volatile month for US stocks — Wall Street is grappling with a series of risks, from the durability of the artificial-intelligence trade to the threat of higher interest rates as inflation remains sticky.

Short-term catalysts for the stock market, Tyler says, include Friday’s much-anticipated US jobs print, followed by the next report on the consumer price index, due on Oct. 14, and then a fresh Fed decision on Oct. 28. Economists estimate that US employers added 90,000 jobs in the September payrolls report after an unexpected jump of 162,000 jobs in August.

Within technology, there is likely to be a broadening with semiconductor shares and the potential for the so-called Magnificent Seven companies to outperform the tech tape, Tyler said, adding that “the AI theme is likely to persist and we like owning the theme.”

“We like tech in the near-term with earnings likely to provide additional support,” Tyler wrote. “You need to see the yield curve bull steepening to see a persistent rally in cyclicals; excluding AI-related plays, we favor banks given the growth reboot, potentially steeper yield curve and favorable capital markets outlook.”

Tyler says they still like tech as a core long but would no longer pair it with a short on the Russell 2000 Index, “given squeeze risk from a move lower in oil / yields, which points to using a derivative expression to play the squeeze,” he added.