US stocks have gained for four straight months, hitting fresh records multiple times, on optimism around robust corporate earnings and potential interest rate cuts. The rally has been driven by the tech sector, with the likes of Nvidia Corp., Meta Platforms Inc. and Microsoft Corp. all up at least 20% this year.
The Evercore ISI strategists acknowledged a wide range of outcomes for next year. Their bull case would see the index reaching 9,000 points if animal spirits take hold in consumer, business and investor confidence, while a bear case envisages the gauge dropping to 5,000 points if inflation stays high and economic growth is subdued.
Emanuel also raised his target for 2025, and now expects the benchmark to end this year at 6,250 points — below Friday’s closing level of 6,460, and slightly lower than the average 6,370 target among strategists tracked by Bloomberg. US markets are closed for a public holiday on Monday.
“AI is ‘bigger’ than the Internet,” the strategists wrote. “In three years, its effect has touched all parts of society and industry even as adoption only begins to inflect.”
