Wall Street firms including Goldman Sachs and Bank of America increased their 2024 year-end targets for the S&P 500 because investors became more optimistic while trade tensions eased and interest rate reductions became possible.
The benchmark index now stands at 6,600 according to Goldman Sachs while BofA predicts 6,300 as its new forecast from the previous 5,600. The new market predictions indicate that the S&P 500 will increase by 6% and 1% from its current level of 6,229.28.
The market experienced a second positive revision from Goldman Sachs within two months after Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs created economic concerns and market instability. The market rally continues because investor positioning remains neutral while some of the duties have been reduced.
The market will continue to rise because of strong 2026 earnings projections combined with Federal Reserve easing and expanding leadership according to Goldman.
Barclays together with Citi and Deutsche Bank increased their market projections. The Fed’s expectations of rate cuts have grown stronger because of weak U.S. economic data which benefits stock market performance.
The market shows resilience because of lower-than-expected inflation pass-through from tariffs and robust corporate performance according to Goldman Sachs which led to increased S&P 500 targets at 6,400 for three months and 6,900 for twelve months.
