Market Commentary

December 16, 2024

Inevitably, as the calendar year comes to a close, Wall Street strategists are forced to conduct the futile exercise of trying to predict stock returns for the coming year. More often than not, most convene around a roughly +10% gain which closely mirrors the long-term average.  

However, this year, after two consecutive periods of +25% annual returns, expectations are more muted. According to Bloomberg, the average price target for 2025 is 6539 which is about +8% above current levels. 

Deutsche Bank suggests that investors themselves are even more cautious, as the results from their global markets survey show anticipated S&P 500 gains of just over +5% as concerns over trade wars, tech valuations, sticky inflation and elevated bond yields temper enthusiasm.