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For the first time, the S&P 500 hit 7,000.
All thanks to growing optimism over artificial intelligence and expectations for hot earnings from Big Tech over the next few days. That includes Apple, Microsoft, Met, and Tesla.
“The benchmark index’s ascent between successive 1,000-point additions has quickened in recent years, reflecting mounting investor confidence in the U.S. economy and corporate America,” as noted by Reuters. “It took about three years for the S&P 500 to rise to 5,000 points from 4,000, but only about nine months to jump from 5,000 to 6,000, which it reached in November 2024.”
It’ll be interesting to see where markets head next.
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Analysts at Oppenheimer raised their price target on Amazon to $315 from $305, citing higher AWS estimates after assessing the impact of Anthropic and reaffirming the stock as a top mega-cap pick, according to CNBC.
Meanwhile, Wedbush reiterated an outperform rating on Apple ahead of earnings, saying 2026 could be a pivotal year as the company looks to shift demand from a strong iPhone 17 cycle to the iPhone 18, navigate pressure in key markets like China, and accelerate its AI initiatives as it re-enters the generative AI space.
The major indices are mixed again.
The S&P 500 is up about 0.14%. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) is up 0.19%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq is up 0.73%. But the Dow is down about 0.08%.
All as markets wait to see what the Federal Reserve has to say about interest rates. They’re also waiting on key earnings from tech heavyweights.
What to Expect from the Federal Reserve
We don’t expect to see any change to the current interest rate.
“Overall, the Fed just wants to stand pat. They feel they’ve got time to wait and see,” former Fed Vice Chair Roger Ferguson said, as quoted by CNBC. “This feels like a wait-and-see meeting, and we should all be listening to see if there’s any hint or a bias towards a future action.”
Moving forward, markets do expect to see one or two cuts this year, according to futures.
Of course, that could be impacted by President Trump’s replacement for Jerome Powell.
“The finalists had been widely believed to be Former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh, current Governor Christopher Waller, National Economic Council chief Kevin Hassett, and BlackRock fixed income head Rick Rieder. Trump, in the interview, said Rieder, the last to interview, is ‘impressive’ and praised all the candidates,” as noted by CNBC.
Key Earnings on Deck
Markets are also waiting on key earnings. That includes Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Meta (NASDAQ: META), and Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA). All of which report after the bell. Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) will report earnings on Thursday.
According to Apple CEO Tim Cook, “First-quarter revenue is expected to demonstrate year-over-year growth ranging from 10% to 12%, which translates to $136.7B to $139.2B. This would easily eclipse Apple’s previous record high quarterly revenue of $124.3B set during the first quarter of fiscal 2025. What’s more, it would stand as Apple’s most significant year-over-year revenue jump since the first quarter of fiscal 2022, when it posted an 11.2% increase,” as quoted by Seeking Alpha.
JPMorgan reiterated its overweight rating on Apple. It also raised its price target to $315 from $305 ahead of Apple’s first-quarter earnings.
Evercore ISI added Apple to its Tactical Outperform list, arguing that strong iPhone demand positions the company for strong earnings. The firm added, “We remain positive on shares of AAPL heading into the Dec-qtr earnings this Thursday, as our checks suggest that there’s near-term upside to street estimates, driven by strong iPhone demand and a minimal memory cost headwind (through the Mar-qtr),” as quoted by CNBC.
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