Return of management professionals' optimism. - With markets showing clear improvement in March, management professionals are more optimistic about prospects than at any time since April 2004, the latest Merrill Lynch-Bank of America survey has revealed. Compared with the results of the previous month, the improvement in the sentiment of the 214 companies surveyed between 2 and 8 April is beginning to see concrete results in their asset allocation. Against a background of rise to a 12-month...