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.
