By
Steve Muchoki
April 16th, 2024
The S&P 500 index has been on the positive side for the better part of the pandemic. The index has gained 10.04% YtD.
In a note to clients, Credit Suisse Group AG (NYSE: CS) team led by strategist Jonathan Golub initiated a 2021 S&P 500 (INDEXSP: .INX) target of 4,050. Apparently, with the index having closed yesterday’s trading session at 3,558.75, it would reciprocate to a 12.14% rise if the prediction by Credit Suisse materializes. During the past 52 weeks, the S&P 500 index has ranged between 2191.86 and 3645.99. Hereby indicating a 4050 target, Credit Suisse expects to see be a new yearly high.
The index is largely related to the general state of the United States economy as it measures the top 500 companies by market capitalization. Moreover, prior statistics have revealed that the index accounts for 80% of the market value of the United States equity market.
As the pharmaceutical companies hasten the coronavirus vaccine development process, a viable and safe covid vaccine is expected by early next year. Whereby the vulnerable ones in the society are expected to receive the first batches of the doses. As a result, credit Suisse expects 2022 the economy will be recovering from the past traumatic market experience.
S&P 500 and Other Credit Suisse Market Expectations
In the note, Credit Suisse stated that it expects earnings per share to spike by 20% in 2021 and another 13% the following year. The analysis is based on the assumption that the U.S economy will be fully opened and revenues rebound from the pandemic lows.
According to the bank, next year’s investment plan will be an “art of predicting the future in the future.” Further, into the following year, the bank expects the investors to be guided by the state of the coronavirus impact on the economy. “As we look toward 2022, the virus will be a fading memory, the economy robust, but decelerating, the yield curve steeper and volatility lower, and the rotation into cyclical largely behind us,” the strategists said.
Further, Credit Suisse recommended investors to focus more on tech and financial stocks through the pandemic recovery. Notably, the analyst indicated that cyclical stocks are bound to spike as investors move away from defensive stocks.
Apparently, the strategist noted that defensive stocks are set to lag behind in the near future as the global economy rebounds from the coronavirus crisis. However, he gave an exception of the healthcare sector that shows “a more robust earnings trend”.
The S&P 500 index has been on the positive side for the better part of the pandemic. According to the metrics provided by MarketWatch, the index has gained 10.04% year to date and added 5.25% and 3.20% in the past three months and one month respectively.