{"id":23944,"date":"2025-06-04T08:02:01","date_gmt":"2025-06-04T08:02:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/?p=23944"},"modified":"2025-06-04T08:02:01","modified_gmt":"2025-06-04T08:02:01","slug":"p-500-holds-near-highs-after-barclays-lifts-target","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/analysis\/p-500-holds-near-highs-after-barclays-lifts-target\/","title":{"rendered":"S&amp;P 500 Holds Near Highs After Barclays Lifts Target"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"559\" src=\"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2026\/03\/image_fx_-2025-03-20T120550.498-1024x559.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-18788\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Key Points<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Barclays raises S&amp;P 500 year-end target to <strong>6,050<\/strong>, forecasting a <strong>1.32%<\/strong> upside from current levels.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>S&amp;P 500 gained <strong>6.2%<\/strong> in May \u2014 its strongest monthly performance since <strong>November 2023<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-dots\" \/>\n\n\n\n<p>The S&amp;P 500 showed resilience in Wednesday\u2019s session, consolidating just below its recent high at <strong>5,988.5<\/strong>, as investors processed a wave of upgraded outlooks from Wall Street strategists. Barclays became the latest institution to raise its year-end forecast for the benchmark index, citing fading trade risks and a return to earnings normalisation by 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The S&amp;P 500 just logged its best May in more than 30 years, in large part due to the return of dominance from the &quot;Magnificent Seven&quot; tech stocks. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/88sARzrdYN\">https:\/\/t.co\/88sARzrdYN<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/2z7lMNuCHU\">pic.twitter.com\/2z7lMNuCHU<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Yahoo Finance (@YahooFinance) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/YahooFinance\/status\/1930076283389477075?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 4, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Barclays\u2019 revised year-end target of <strong>6,050<\/strong>, up from <strong>5,900<\/strong>, adds to a growing consensus shift on Wall Street. Goldman Sachs, UBS, Deutsche Bank, and RBC Capital have all raised their forecasts in recent weeks, reflecting stronger-than-expected Q1 earnings and optimism that tariff headwinds will ease into 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Strategists led by <strong>Venu Krishna<\/strong> at Barclays project earnings per share (EPS) of <strong>$262 for 2025<\/strong>, unchanged from previous estimates, and introduced a <strong>2026 EPS forecast of $285<\/strong> with a target of <strong>6,700<\/strong> on the index \u2014 a near 12% upside from current levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The rationale is that <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/nX9SvmAQXi\">tariff disruptions<\/a> will be \u201cabsorbed throughout the remaining quarters of FY25,\u201d paving the way for a return to pre-tariff growth dynamics in 2026. While secondary effects on inflation and corporate margins remain a risk, Barclays sees little direct tariff drag by next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This bullish outlook comes on the heels of a red-hot May, where the S&amp;P 500 surged 6.2%\u2014marking its strongest monthly performance since November 2023. The rally was fuelled by a combination of factors: President Trump\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/aMrNlrY4KC\">softened rhetoric on new tariffs<\/a> helped ease market tension, while resilient corporate earnings\u2014particularly from <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/s58UplO7yB\">AI-linked and cyclical sectors<\/a>\u2014reaffirmed investor confidence. Meanwhile, a batch of cooler inflation data reset expectations around potential Federal Reserve rate cuts, providing an additional boost to risk sentiment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size\">Technical Analysis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The SP500 index is showing signs of short-term consolidation after reaching a local high of 5988.5. The price action recovered sharply from the previous low of 5867.75 on 3 June, driven by strong upward momentum during the second half of the session. The moving averages (5, 10, 30) currently support a bullish alignment, with the shorter EMAs above the longer-term MA, although flattening out in the final hours, indicating a pause in upward momentum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2026\/03\/image-1-1024x442.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-23947\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><em>Picture: SP500 hovers near 5988 peak after sharp rebound from 5867; bullish trend softens into consolidation, as seen on the <\/em><em><a href=\"https:\/\/vtmarketsapp.onelink.me\/CD7D\/240525WA\">VT Markets app<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The MACD histogram is beginning to narrow after a strong bullish wave, with the MACD and signal lines converging, which suggests a potential slowdown in buying pressure. While the trend remains technically upward (indicated by the 0.02% positive trend bias), the price has entered a tight range near 5978, showing indecision around resistance levels. A clear breakout above 5988.5 could signal renewed upside, whereas a breakdown below 5960 may invite corrective pressure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size\">Cautious Outlook<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>While the broader setup remains bullish, traders should be aware of elevated positioning risk near all-time highs. Macro sensitivity to incoming data, particularly around wage inflation and consumer strength, could inject volatility in the short term. Any upside surprises in the next set of CPI or PCE figures may rekindle speculation of <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/UzMv8ssANx\">delayed Fed cuts<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That said, as long as <strong>support at 5,940 holds<\/strong>, the path of least resistance remains to the upside \u2014 with Barclays\u2019 6,050 target now in focus for summer positioning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/trade-now\/\">Create your live VT Markets account<\/a><\/strong><strong> and <\/strong><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/myaccount.vtmarkets.com\/login?_gl=1*1azgbap*_gcl_au*NjE5NTE3MjY4LjE3NDQ2MDA3NDI.*_ga*MTY4OTgwNTU5Mi4xNzM2NzQ2MTgy*_ga_J26NL1ZVX7*czE3NDQ5NDQ0NTYkbzEyMCRnMCR0MTc0NDk0NDQ1NiRqNjAkbDAkaDA.\">start trading<\/a><\/strong><strong> now.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Index nears record zone as May\u2019s bullish momentum spills into June; Barclays joins growing chorus of strategists boosting 2025 outlook. &#8211; vtmarkets.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":18788,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[11],"class_list":["post-23944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-analysis","tag-indices"],"acf":{"acf_article_selection_author":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/64"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23944"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23944\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18788"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}