Wall Street banks are betting that the blockbuster rally in US stocks will cool next year as investors turn cautious on technology companies’ ability to profit from their big investments in artificial intelligence. Ten major banks, including Morgan Stanley, HSBC and Goldman Sachs, expect the S&P 500 index, the main US equities barometer, to rise roughly 8 per cent on average to around 6,550 between now and the end of next year, taking it to fresh highs.
The six largest US tech companies, including Nvidia and Amazon, enjoyed average earnings growth of 33 per cent in the most recent quarter but analysts expect a rise of 16 per cent for 2025. Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan forecast the benchmark index to rise by around 7 per cent to the 6,500 mark. However, Deutsche Bank has set a target of 7,000 for the benchmark by the end of next year, the highest among the 10 global banks.