Global Markets Forecast to Rise Despite Trade War Fears

Global stock markets are tipped to keep rising in 2025, led by more gains among US shares, despite anxiety about inflation and fears that Donald Trump could spark a new trade war.

- Graeme Wearden

Wall Street analysts are forecasting the S&P 500 will rise by roughly 9% in 2025, taking the index of US companies up to about 6,500 points by the end of the year, according to data from Bloomberg.

That would be less impressive than this year's rally, in which the S&P 500 jumped by 25%, to 5,970 points at Wall Street's close on Friday.

Deutsche Bank's chief global strategist, Binky Chadha, has a bullish 2025 year-end S&P 500 target of 7,000 points, while Goldman Sachs predicts it will be 6,500 points.

UBS has it slightly lower, at 6,400 points, and predicts returns will be "backloaded", with mild losses across equities expected in the first half of 2025.

Justin White, a portfolio manager at the US investment firm T Rowe Price, says there is an undertone of nagging uncertainty, even though the markets quickly recovered from their brief slump in August.