BMO hikes S&P 500 target to 6,700 with benchmark on the cusp of a record high
The S & P 500 is close to its all-time high, and BMO thinks there are more gains to be made above that February level. Strategist Brian Belski hiked his S & P 500 year-end target to 6,700 — his original 2025 forecast — from 6,100. The new forecast signals upside of 10% from Tuesday's close. Belski highlighted two reasons for the target increase: "Markets are transitioning TO 'show me' FROM 'scare me'. We believe performance is broadening, reactions from daily rhetoric are calming, and actual corporate guidance will increase coming out of the 2Q earnings reporting period." "Facts over feelings WIN AGAIN. … The death of 'American Exceptionalism' was widely exaggerated and too vehemently applauded to hold any merit or duration … That is why the relative performance of other markets that so many investors have been chasing and applauding for emotional reasons [is] already beginning to wane." .SPX YTD mountain S & P 500 year to date The change came as stocks rallied Tuesday following a ceasefire between Iran and Israel, easing tensions in the Middle East. Week to date, the S & P 500 is up 2% and sits less than 1% below its record high set in February. Belski's target is now the highest among those included in the CNBC Market Strategist Survey . Technology is BMO's favorite sector going forward, with the firm recommending a 33% allocation to the space. Indeed, tech has been a leader in the market's rebound from the tariff scare. Since April 2, the day President Trump announced higher tariffs, the sector is up 18%. Already, the tech-heavy Nasdaq-100 index made a fresh all-time high on Tuesday. Others on the Street echo Belski's market enthusiasm. "In my view, we hit new highs sooner rather than later," Mark Gibbens, founder and CIO of Gibbens Capital Management, told me during a phone call. "All things considered, assuming the economy still grows at a 2% clip, the consumer remains healthy, … there's a lot to look forward to in the back half of the year." On Tuesday, JPMorgan's trading desk told clients that it's "time to get bulled up again."
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