
UBS raises S&P year end target, eyes more gains in 2026
UBS Global Wealth Management on Thursday raised its year-end target for the S&P 500 to 6,000 from 5,800 and initiated a June 2026 target of 6,400.
The research group also raised its 2025 expectation for S&P 500 earnings per share to $260 from $250 and forecast 2026 EPS of $280, up from its previous estimate of $275.
David Lefkowitz, head of U.S. equities, cited a better than expected first quarter earnings season and slightly higher expectations for GDP growth in the second half of the year for the changes. (Reporting By Sinéad Carew; Editing by Chris Reese)
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Khaleej Times
2 hours ago
- Khaleej Times
Gold eyes $3,900 as uncertainty fuels bullish surge
Already up nearly 30 per cent in 2025 after a 25 per cent gain in 2024, gold is not only outperforming equities but also establishing itself as the ultimate investment haven. In a world increasingly plagued by economic instability, geopolitical tension, and fiscal recklessness, the yellow metal is once again proving its mettle. The outlook, according to analysts and strategists, is upbeat: gold could surge to a record average of $3,210 this year, with the potential to test highs as lofty as $3,900. This bullish trajectory is anchored in an evolving macroeconomic landscape. The latest Gold Focus report by Metals Focus, released this week, forecasts a 35 per cent jump in the annual average gold price for 2025. 'Looking ahead, we expect gold to break new ground,' said Philip Newman, managing director at Metals Focus. "Macroeconomic uncertainty and elevated geopolitical risks are likely to sustain investor interest... We forecast a record average price of $3,210 - a level that would finally surpass the real terms peak from 1980.' Non-liability-bearing reserve asset Driving this momentum is a potent mix of factors. Central banks are hoarding gold at record levels - net official sector purchases in 2024 reached 1,086 tonnes, driven by a strategic move away from the US dollar. With trust in the greenback eroding due to swelling US debt, renewed trade tensions under President Trump, and fiscal uncertainty, global monetary authorities are turning to the yellow metal as a non-liability-bearing reserve asset. Analysts say that trend is set to continue well into 2025. Retail and institutional demand also remain firm, despite sky-high prices. While Western markets have seen a slowdown, investor appetite in South and East Asia has more than made up for the slack. Metals Focus notes that physical demand from private investors held up far better than expected, a sign that gold's value proposition remains intact even at elevated price levels. Still a financial fortress Investor anxiety over the direction of US trade and monetary policy has added fuel to gold's rise. Expectations of further interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve later in 2025 have stoked enthusiasm for non-yielding assets like gold. At the same time, speculative positioning - while a source of volatility - has reinforced the upward trend as investors consistently 'buy the dips.' Precious metals analysts argue that with central banks accumulating at historic levels, investors hedging against currency volatility, and governments showing few signs of fiscal restraint, "gold's narrative as a financial fortress seems far from over. For now, the yellow metal shines brighter than ever—offering not just a hedge, but a haven." A new price floor Yet not all voices in the market are equally bullish. Quant Mutual Fund recently warned that gold may have peaked in the short term, suggesting a potential 12 to 15 per cent correction in dollar terms over the next two months. Still, the fund maintains a positive medium to long-term outlook and advises investors to maintain meaningful exposure to precious metals within diversified portfolios. For a more nuanced perspective, George Milling-Stanley, chief gold strategist at State Street Global Advisors and one of the most respected voices in the gold space, weighed in on the outlook during a recent interview. A pioneer in gold investing and a key architect behind SPDR Gold Shares (GLD), Milling-Stanley believes the rally has deeper roots. 'We still have a lot of geopolitical turbulence, and gold historically performs well during periods of geopolitical turmoil,' he said. 'We still don't know where we stand with interest rates. We still have enormous uncertainty on the macroeconomic front.' He emphasises that the metal's rise has not been driven primarily by inflation, contrary to popular belief, but by an overarching climate of unpredictability. Importantly, Milling-Stanley believes that gold has now established a new price floor. 'It looks very much as if we've established a new floor above $3,000 an ounce,' he explained. 'Last year, the floor was around $2,000. That is a huge leap.' With this new baseline, gold could consolidate in the $3,000 to $3,500 range before attempting to breach resistance levels near $3,900, he said. Indeed, this sentiment is echoed in the numbers. The three-year annualised return on gold, as tracked by GLD, now stands at 21.4 per cent -well above its long-term average of around 8 per cent since 1971. For nervous investors navigating today's volatile markets, the allure is not just performance, but protection. Bar and coin investment has stayed broadly flat globally, but regional shifts are notable. Strong demand in China and India has compensated for softness in the West. Meanwhile, ETFs and institutional vehicles continue to see steady inflows, signaling confidence in gold's long-term value. Gold's resilience has also found an unexpected ally in trade policy. The reintroduction of tariffs by the US administration and fears of a full-blown trade war have rattled global investors, further undermining confidence in traditional assets and currencies. As these pressures mount, gold's role as an insurance policy becomes ever more relevant. Even if gold consolidates in the coming months, strategists believe the outlook remains fundamentally strong. 'The higher the uncertainty, the higher the upper limit,' said Milling-Stanley. 'Our bullish case suggests we could actually take out whatever resistance is available at the $3,500 area, and possibly even trade as high as $3,900.'


Khaleej Times
5 hours ago
- Khaleej Times
US President Trump warns Elon Musk of 'serious consequences' if he funds Democrats
Donald Trump said on Saturday his relationship with his billionaire donor Elon Musk is over and warned there would be "serious consequences" if Musk funds US Democrats running against Republicans who vote for the president's sweeping tax and spending bill. In a telephone interview with NBC News, Trump declined to say what those consequences would be, and went on to add that he had not had discussions about whether to investigate Musk. Asked if he thought his relationship with the Tesla and SpaceX CEO was over, Trump said, "I would assume so, yeah." "No," Trump told NBC when asked if he had any desire to repair his relationship with Musk. "I have no intention of speaking to him," Trump said. However, Trump said he had not thought about terminating US government contracts with Musk's StarLink satellite internet or SpaceX rocket launch companies. Musk and Trump began exchanging insults this week, as Musk denounced Trump's bill as a "disgusting abomination." Musk's opposition to the measure complicated efforts to pass the legislation in Congress, where Republicans hold only slim majorities in the House of Representatives and Senate. The bill narrowly passed the House last month and is now before the Senate, where Trump's fellow Republicans are considering making changes. Nonpartisan analysts estimate the measure would add $2.4 trillion to the $36.2 trillion US debt over 10 years, which worries many lawmakers, including some Republicans who are fiscal hawks. Musk also declared it was time for a new political party in the United States "to represent the 80 per cent in the middle!" Trump said on Saturday he is confident the bill would get passed by the US July 4 Independence Day holiday. "In fact, yeah, people that were, were going to vote for it are now enthusiastically going to vote for it, and we expect it to pass," Trump told NBC. Republicans have strongly backed Trump's initiatives since he began his second term as president on January 20. While some Republican lawmakers have made comments to the news media expressing concern about some of Trump's choices, they have yet to vote down any of his policies or nominations. Deleted posts Musk has deleted some social media posts critical of Trump, including one that signalled support for impeaching the president, appearing to seek a de-escalation of their public feud, which exploded on Thursday. During his first term as president, the House, then controlled by Democrats, twice voted to impeach Trump but the Senate both times acquitted him. The White House and Musk did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Saturday on the deleted posts. People who have spoken to Musk said his anger has begun to recede and they thought he would want to repair his relationship with Trump. One of the X posts that Musk appeared to have deleted was a response to another user posting: "President vs Elon. Who wins? My money's on Elon. Trump should be impeached and (Vice President) JD Vance should replace him." Musk had written "yes."


The National
a day ago
- The National
Wall Street lifted by upbeat US jobs report and Tesla rebound
Wall Street closed higher on Friday, buoyed by a better-than-expected US jobs report and a rebound in Tesla Motors shares, although concern about the Federal Reserve's rates policy remained. The Labour Department reported on Friday that the American economy added 139,000 jobs in May, slower than previous months but beating analyst estimates, with the unemployment rate holding steady at 4.2 per cent. It also indicated that wages grew at a solid pace, which may mean the Fed is unlikely to cut interest rates – something that US President Donald Trump has demanded from the US central bank. Mr Trump on Thursday increased the pressure on Fed chairman Jerome Powell, urging him to cut interest rates by a full percentage point. Mr Powell so far has resisted the calls from the White House and maintains that policy decisions will be data dependent. He met Mr Trump at the White House last week and was firm that rate decisions will be made 'as required by law'. 'The labour market's resilience puts the Fed in a difficult spot: inflation pressures remain sticky and the cooling many expected simply hasn't materialised in the data that matters most,' said Nigel Green, chief executive of Dubai-based financial services firm deVere Group. 'This report puts another nail in the coffin for any talk of rate cuts in the summer. The Fed has said time and again it needs to see weakness in the labour market to move. This isn't weakness. It's strength with staying power.' Investors also continue to monitor the tariff situation between the US and China. After imposing substantial tit-for-tat levies on imports, the world's two biggest economies agreed to a detente on their trade war on May 12. Talks appear to be progressing: Mr Trump on Thursday spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping, and on Friday Mr Trump said trade officials from Washington and Beijing will meet in London on Monday to resume discussions. 'Investors couldn't care less. Dips in equity markets are still seen as opportunities to buy cheaper. And while the data is fun to watch, it remains secondary to the blind bullishness,' said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, a senior analyst at Swissquote Bank. 'That's the takeaway from the post – April 2 rally: the world may be wobbling, but markets march on,' she added, referring to the day Mr Trump announced his sweeping global tariffs programme. On Wall Street, the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average both settled 1 per cent higher, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 1.2 per cent. Tesla, whose stock plummeted 14 per cent on Thursday in response chief executive Elon Musk's escalating public feud with Mr Trump, rebounded to close 3.7 per cent higher. The Texas-based company's shares rose by as much as 6 per cent. For the week, the S&P was up 1.5 per cent, the Dow added 1.2 per cent and the Nasdaq rose 2.2 per cent. Year-to-date, the indices are up 2 per cent, 0.5 per cent and 1.1 per cent, respectively. In Europe, markets were mostly up after the US jobs report eased fears of an economic slowdown. London's FTSE 100 closed up 0.3 per cent, boosted by banking stocks. Paris' CAC 40 added 0.2 per cent, while Frankfurt's DAX retreated 0.1 per cent. Earlier in Asia, major indices were mixed, with Tokyo's Nikkei 225 adding 0.5 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index declining 0.5 per cent and the Shanghai Composite closing flat. In commodities, oil prices jumped nearly 2 per cent on Friday to post their first weekly gain in three weeks amid hopes for a US-China deal on tariffs and the jobs report. Brent rose 1.73 per cent to settle at $66.47 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate closed 1.91 per cent higher at $64.58 a barrel. Gold, meanwhile, fell more than 1 per cent on investor concerns that the US jobs report won't sway the Fed to cut rates soon. The precious metal, a hedge against inflation, declined nearly 1.3 per cent to $3,311.70 an ounce.