With a healthy rally taking U. S. markets into 2017, it’s smart to be bullish on the new year’s opportunities, despite the potential for a pullback, technical analyst Katie Stockton told CNBC on Thursday.
« I don’t see how you can’t be bullish in this environment. We’ve seen a lot of breakouts, we’ve seen a lot of momentum behind the market. The leading sectors have been the more offensive sectors at the marketplace, » Stockton told » Squawk Box. »
« All of those things stack up nicely for Q1, » said Stockton, chief technical strategist at BTIG, referring to the first quarter of 2017.
Stockton said a pullback could be in sight as the markets feel overbought on the short term, but that didn’t mar her bullishness for the start of the year.
« [If] we see something change, we’re going to change with it, » Stockton said. « But as it stands, I think it’s right to be bullish, it’s right to be looking for opportunities to add exposure and really just trying to get to get those sector calls right. »
One surprising sector emerging as a popular pick in the new year is health care, Stockton said, despite heated discussions in Congress over the future of the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare.
« Already we’re seeing some rotation into health care. I think that’s kind of interesting. It’s a bit more defensive in its properties at times, but health care does have a big footprint in the S&P 500, » Stockton said.
