A financial market in which prices are rising and investor confidence is high is called a bull market.
The term describes a sustained upward trend in prices, whether across a broad index, a sector, or an individual asset. Investors are generally optimistic, expecting further gains and often buying more readily. This demand can help push prices higher, although optimism does not guarantee that every company or security will rise.
A commonly used technical rule defines a bull market as a gain of at least 20% from a recent market low. That threshold is a convention rather than a universal law, and analysts may disagree about the precise start or end date. Bull markets can last months or many years and may include temporary corrections.
The usual counterpart is a bear market, associated with falling prices and pessimism. The animal language dates to early-18th-century London financial slang: bulls expected prices to rise, while bears expected them to fall. The imagery is also often linked to the upward force of a bull’s horns.