S&P 500 Rally: AI & Earnings Fuel Upside

0:00Stock markets on fire right now, with the S&P 500 hitting a record close at 7174 on April 27th. Morgan Stanley says, don't count out more gains. They're sticking with a bullish call, targeting 7800 for the index, that's. Almost 9% higher from here. Their reasoning, bad news is already baked in, and earnings are crushing expectations. Early earnings reports show a 10% surprise across the board, double the usual average, with estimates still climbing up, 2% for second, quarter 2026, and 3% over the next 12 months. AI's fueling margins, accounting for over half of S&P earnings growth last year, and nearly a quarter of companies now report real AI wins, up. From just 13% before, techs leading the charge, NASDAQ up 18.8% in the past month, and 7.1% year-to-date, while Dow's gained 8, 0.9% monthly, but lags at 2.3% yearly.

1:01Other big banks agree, with targets like JP Morgan at 7600, UBS at 7500, and Goldman at 7600, 100, everyone sees upside. Morgan Stanley's pushing a barbell strategy, mixed cyclicals, like financials, industrials, and consumer goods, with quality growth, and mega caps. Pullbacks might happen from oil prices or fed worries, but they'll be shallow, since passive investors are still underweight. Earnings and business cycle strength are outweighing policy noise from elections. Bottom line, this rally's got real legs from profits in AI momentum, not just height keeping eye on those shallow dips as chances to load up before the... Next leg higher. From your city, powered by AI, this is Durham News Today.