U.S. futures are trending to the upside, as investors eye developments in the Middle East, with crude prices dipping. In Europe, stocks are also seeing the upside, with only the FTSE 100, where oil majors such as BP and Shell trade, in the red. Here are three investment strategies we heard in CNBC’s Singapore and London studios on Tuesday to help navigate the noise. AI productivity gains Florian Ielpo, head of macro at Lombard Odier Investment Managers, is eyeing the fallout from the AI trade, arguing against underestimating how AI adoption is also producing productivity elsewhere. Ielpo said that the market is trading more narrowly than the earnings surprises are showing. “If you look at the numbers, industrials overall are doing good, consumer discretionary have been surprising to the upside, materials also. There’s a flurry of sectors which are also profiting from what’s happening currently in the pure AI space, I see that as momentum.” The case for Europe Julian Howard, chief multi-asset investment strategist at GAM Investments, made the case for European equities but said the catalyst for those stocks has to be an end to the conflict in Iran. He cited German infrastructure as a case in point, but said that energy concerns over Europe loom large. He said that if investors target the Nasdaq and S & P 500 in the meantime, they will be able to hedge against inflation. Underweight Japan Francis Tan, chief strategist Asia at Indosuez Wealth Management, is now underweight Japanese equities, citing the recent strong run for stocks on the Nikkei 225. Additionally, Tan cited a need to rebalance his portfolio, saying he is now slightly overweight U.S. equities. He said he saw opportunities for gold and is advising clients to buy any dips in the precious metal, saying it has a “medium-term uptrend.”
