S&P 500 Makes a 54th High for the Year but with Soft Market Internals

The S&P 500 defies weak breadth to hit its 54th record high of the year

Highlights

• The S&P 500 defies weak breadth to hit its 54^th record high of the year

• Industrial recession remains despite inventory-led ISM manufacturing PMI beat

• Data beneath the PCE deflator headline show disinflationary momentum is intact

• The Canadian economy is in even worse shape than it looks

Key Takeaways

S&P 500 Record High Amid Sector Declines

• It was a bit of a strange day to have seen the S&P 500 make its 54^th record high of the year in a session that had 8 of the 11 sectors closing in the red, and decliners outnumbering advancers on the New York Stock Exchange by a 5-4 margin.

S&P 500 Target Soars 24% Above Forecast

• The consensus target for the S&P 500 at the end of last year for December 2024 was 4,861. The 24% gap between actual prices and the forecast is about the highest on record. The consensus target is now 6,649, or 9% above today’s price! But imagine that — the year-end target now is 1,800 points higher than it was at the end of 2023! Nobody questions whether the math makes sense — it’s all about chasing price momentum.