The S&P 500 is hovering around its all-time high, and optimism is rising among Wall Street’s analysts. One notable figure, Brian Belski, Chief Investment Strategist at BMO Capital Markets, believes the index has much more room to climb this year, as quoted on Yahoo Finance. This puts focus on SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY, Vanguard S&P 500 ETF VOO and iShares Core S&P 500 ETF IVV. These ETFs have gained about 4.6% so far this year (as of June 26, 2025).
BMO Raises Year-End Target to 6,700
Belski has revised this year-end target for the S&P 500 to 6,700, up from his previous forecast of 6,100. Earlier this year, he had lowered his outlook amid heightened tariff tensions that rattled markets in April. However, with those fears fading, Belski now offers a more optimistic view.
According to Belski, the market environment is shifting. He emphasized that market performance is broadening, investor reactions are stabilizing, and corporate guidance is expected to become more transparent after the second-quarter earnings season.
Bullish Sentiment Spreads Across Wall Street
Belski’s bullish stance is part of a broader trend. Many analysts who had slashed their forecasts in April are now reversing course. While 11 Wall Street firms reduced their S&P 500 targets during the spring sell-off, at least eight have since raised their projections, as quoted on Yahoo Finance.
Improving Economic and Earnings Outlook
Economic indicators and corporate earnings forecasts are also rebounding. The U.S. economy contracted at an annualized rate of 0.2% in Q1 2025, a slight improvement from the initial estimate of a 0.3% decline. The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index for the United States rose to 60.5 in June 2025 from a near-record low of 52.2 in both May and April, and well above market expectations of 53.5, according to preliminary estimates.
Belski highlighted that estimates for key sectors, including Communication Services, Consumer Discretionary, Information Technology and especially Financials, have room to recover further. Since the start of April, Q2 estimates have declined for 14 of the 16 Zacks sectors.
Estimates for the Tech and Finance sectors, the largest earnings contributors to the S&P 500 index, accounting for more than 50% of all index earnings, have also been cut since the quarter got underway. But the revisions trend for the Tech sector has notably stabilized in recent weeks.
A Shift in Trade Policy Sparks Market Rebound
Belski acknowledged that his April 9 downgrade came before President Trump’s major tariff delay announcements. At that time, maintaining a target 30% above the S&P’s actual level seemed “not thoughtful.”
However, with the effective U.S. tariff rate falling from over 25% to around 14% (according to the Yale Budget Lab), investor sentiment has shifted sharply. As trade tensions eased, several defensive strategies from April—including the “Sell America” trade—began to unwind. Hence, along with many analysts, we believe this could be a good time to buy S&P 500 ETFs.
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SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY): ETF Research Reports Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO): ETF Research Reports iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV): ETF Research ReportsThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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