Bank of America: Raises S&P 500 Index target to 5730 points, path still "bumpy"

The Royal Bank of Canada's capital market strategist has raised the year-end target for the S&P 500 index from 5550 to 5730 points, believing that the market trend is slightly better than expected in early April. However, they warned that the future path will still be "bumpy". The team led by Lori Calvasina gave this somewhat optimistic expectation, with the key risk being a rebound in market sentiment - although the target implies a 3.1% decline from last Friday. The Royal Bank of Canada pointed out that the model shows a range of potential outcomes: in an optimistic scenario, the benchmark index could reach close to 6400 points by the end of the year; while a more conservative model shows around 5500 points. The bank believes that economic tailwinds are hard to find, and the Federal Reserve may not cut interest rates until September, which is one of the reasons for maintaining a neutral view on small-cap stocks compared to large-cap stocks. The strategists wrote, "Rate cuts often stimulate small-cap stock leadership, but unless accompanied by economic downturns and recoveries, this leadership trend is usually difficult to sustain."