[HSBC’s Sels believes that U.S. stocks are undervalued, but soaring bond yields are the biggest risk facing the stock market] On September 8, Willem Sels, global chief investment officer of HSBC Private Bank and Premier Wealth, said that U.S. stocks are not as expensive as they seem, and current valuations still do not fully reflect the productivity and profitability growth driven by artificial intelligence. Sels pointed out that the price-to-earnings ratio gap between U.S. and European stocks has narrowed, and current valuation multiples have not yet fully reflected what he calls the structural investment cycle in AI. The S&P 500 currently trades at about 19 times forward earnings, compared with nearly 15 times for the Stoxx Europe 600. He added that chipmakers in particular are being discounted by investors as the market is skeptical of even earnings growth forecasts for 2027. He believes that skepticism will reverse as companies provide more concrete evidence through orders and guidance. Sels said the biggest single risk facing the stock market is a sharp rise in bond yields. He believes that the rise in the 10-year U.S. Treasury bond yield to around 5% may become a level that triggers market volatility. He acknowledged that the market "has been accustomed to low bond volatility for a long time," but he still believes that strong earnings growth has formed a strong support that makes it difficult for stocks not to continue to rise.