New survey shows 66% of investors haven't touched their stock portfolios, even as coronavirus has sent markets crashing

ReutersInvestors look at screens showing stock information at a brokerage house in Shanghai

• Sixty-six percent of investors have not touched their stock portfolios even amid the coronavirus market meltdown, according to a survey released Tuesday by Bankrate.
• Still, Americans have reduced spending during the pandemic, the survey showed. Fifty-two percent said they'd cut down on spending due to the pandemic and its effect on the economy and stock market.
• "Take this as validation of a U.S. economic recession," said Greg McBride, chief financial analyst of Bankrate, in a statement.
• Read more on Business Insider.

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Even amid the coronavirus market meltdown, a majority of investors have not changed anything in their stock portfolios, according to a new survey.

As many as 66% of US adults with retirement or investment accounts have intentionally done nothing with those stock-related investments, according to a Bankrate survey released Tuesday. The survey took place online between March 20-24 and included nearly 2,500 adults, about half of whom had investment accounts.

"Two out of every three households with retirement or investment accounts stood pat and did not make any changes to their stock-related holdings," Greg McBride, chief financial analyst of Bankrate, said in a statement. "They're not bailing on stocks despite an unprecedented drop of more than 30% at time of polling."

On the flip side, only 11% of investors said they'd moved money out of stocks, while 13% said they contributed more to the market during the recent turmoil. Somewhat surprisingly, 10% said they weren't aware of any market volatility.

The survey comes as the US grapples with the coronavirus pandemic and its effects on both markets and the economy. Global stocks have been roiled by the outbreak and fears that it will hinder global growth, ending the longest-ever bull market on record and sending stocks down more than 30% from all-time highs. In the US, signs of extreme economic damage have started to show - recently, jobless claims data surged to a record level when 3.28 million Americans filed for unemployment insurance in one week as coronavirus layoffs began en masse.

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While investors seem to be staying the course in the stock market, they have cut back on spending, the survey showed. Over half of those surveyed said they have intentionally reduced general spending due to the pandemic and its effect on the economy and stock market, according to Bankrate.

Millennial and Generation X respondents were more likely to have cut spending, according to the survey - 56% of both groups said they'd lowered spending, compared to 48% of Baby Boomers. Reduced spending was seen across a majority of all income brackets in the survey, though the propensity to save increased with take-home pay.

"More than two-thirds of U.S. economic output is tied to consumer spending, and most Americans are actively cutting their spending due to pervasive worries about the COVID-19 impact on the economy and stock market," said McBride. "Take this as validation of a U.S. economic recession."

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