Morgan Stanley raises base case 2025 yr-end S&P 500 target to 6,500

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) has increased its 12-month base case price target on the S&P 500 to 6,500, the firm’s equity strategist Michael Wilson and other strategists wrote in a note on Monday.

The benchmark index was last at 5,893.

According to the note, the firm expects the recent broadening in U.S. earnings growth to continue in 2025 as the Federal Reserve cuts interest rates into next year and as business cycle indicators improve further.

“A potential rise in corporate animal spirits post the election (as we saw following the 2016 election) could catalyze a more balanced earnings profile across the market in 2025,” the strategists added.

Republican Donald Trump this month won a second term as U.S. president. He was elected U.S. president for the first time in 2016.

The firm remains bullish on “quality cyclicals,” noting that financials remain its “favored overweight” following an upgrade in early October.