Can the U.S. hold everyone else above water? That is the question investors are asking as Wall Street heads into 2015.
The Associated Press reports a strong U.S. economy helped propel the stock market higher in 2014, continuing a bull market that is on pace to celebrate its sixth birthday in March. On more than one occasion, investors dumped stocks following geopolitical flare-ups and concerns about the global economy, only to jump back in when an economic report or results from a big company suggested the U.S. economy was still resilient.
This bull market may be slowing down, but it still has had a remarkable run.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index has more than tripled from its March 2009 low. Wall Street strategists, who typically are bullish on the U.S. stock market, expect the advance to continue into 2015. The S&P 500 index is on track to return 14% in 2014 including dividends, a healthy gain but well below the 2013 return of 32%. Because the U.S. economy should continue to improve, stocks are likely to march higher in 2015, strategists say.
On average, strategists see the S&P 500 up roughly 6% to 8%, with most of the gains coming from large multinational companies that would benefit greatly from an improving U.S. economy. The U.S. economy is expected to grow 3.1% in 2015, accelerating from the 2.2% growth it is expected to have this year. Read the full story.
