Over a quarter (27%) of institutional investors think the market has yet to hit its bottom. Investors based outside the US are even more pessimistic with well over a third (41%) still waiting for the markets to hit a floor.

Although levels of market optimism are higher in the third quarter than in the previous two quarters of 2009, six months of a growing market have not convinced investors that the worst is over, according to a survey by TheMarkets.com, a provider of research

Respondents based outside the US were more confident about the speed of future recovery than their US-based counterparts. Almost 50% of them expect the S&P 500 to return to 1500 by the end of 2011 compared with 21% of US-based investors.

Over half of US-based respondents think the S&P 500 will not return to its pre-collapse highs in the 1500s until 2013 or later.

Key sectors of focus for investors over the next year will be energy, financials and healthcare, in that order.

In the survey nearly half of respondents said they believe the price of oil becomes a bearish sign for the stock market at $100 a barrel while over 30% think it is a bearish sign at $125.
The survey was conducted with professional investors in 20 countries.