AI unwind triggers “buy-the-dip” surge in US and Asian indices

Capital.com’s latest client sentiment data reveals a sharp rotation underway across global markets this week, with retail traders leaning heavily into equity indices exposed to the AI trade following last Friday’s pullback, while commodities and FX saw significant positioning flips.

Across major US and Asian indices, sentiment moved closer into extreme buy territory. Long positioning in the S&P 500 rose to 77% (from 74% at the start of last week), with similar moves in the Nasdaq (73%, up from 60%) and the Russell 2000 (69%, from 66%). In Asia, long sentiment in the Nikkei surged to 77% (from 71%) and the Hang Seng pushed further into extreme buy at 87% (from 83%).

The Dow Jones was the exception, with long bias easing to 59% (from 63%) as the index outperformed and traders rotated away from relative winners.

Meanwhile, positioning across commodities was mixed but decisive. Gold sentiment eased out of extreme buy territory to 71% long (from 78%) as price breached $4.3K, while silver flipped sharply higher to 78% (from 72%) after a late-week pullback as trend-traders sought to enter once more. In energy, WTI sentiment climbed to a striking 92% long (from 78%), one of the most elevated readings this month, while natural gas flipped dramatically from 63% short to 70% long.

In FX, weakening USD momentum drove shifts in major crosses. EUR/USD flipped from a slight long bias to 54% short, while GBP/USD saw long positioning rise to 61% (from 52% a week ago).

“What we’re seeing is a rotation driven by the AI trade,” said Monte Safieddine, Head of Market Research, MENA at Capital.com.
“Pullbacks in tech-heavy indices have triggered pronounced buy-the-dip behaviour, while commodities and FX show traders repositioning around a softer dollar and volatile energy markets.

Sentiment is gauged from over 750k active clients trading globally on Capital.com, w/w, as at 5am UTC, 15 Oct  2025

To access the full Weekly Sentiment Report (updated Mondays), go to: https://capital.com/weekly-sentiment-report-mena