Here's what 18 Wall Street pros are predicting for the stock market this year (SPX, SPY, DJI, IXIC, QQQ)
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Many Wall Street strategists started out the year forecasting that stock market returns would be modest, if not unspectacular.
But in the first few weeks of 2016, stocks have turned more sour than expected.
The market had its shakiest start to a year ever, the S&P 500 is down 9% year-to-date, and global stocks fell into a bear market.
And so it's no surprise that some pros have lowered their year-end expectations.
Still, the consensus remains that the drawdown in stocks is a normal correction that likely won't be accompanied by an economic recession, so the 6-year-old bull market is still alive.
None of the 18 top equity strategists we tracked sees the S&P 500 ending the year below 2,000, or 7% higher than where it closed on Friday.
We've rounded up the calls from the top firms on Wall Street, highlighting those that have revised their forecasts and why:
2,000 — Bank of America Merrill Lynch
2016 year-end target: 2,000
Prior year-end target: 2,200
Comment: "Unless we see signs of a growth recovery, there may be significant near-term downside to current levels," Savita Subramanian, wrote to clients on Friday, according to Bloomberg. "The S&P 500's move this year has been extreme, worsened by the dearth of liquidity in financial markets amid the tightest regulatory backdrop of our careers."
Source: Bank of America Merrill Lynch
2,000 — JPMorgan
2016 year-end target: 2,000
Prior year-end target: 2,200
Comment: "There is increasing risk that elevated volatility starts incurring enough technical damage to market psychology," Dubravko Lakos-Bujas wrote in a note. That could spill over and negatively affect business and consumer sentiment, "resulting in a lack of risk taking, and eventually creating a negative feedback loop into the real economy."
Source: JPMorgan
2,050 — Credit Suisse
2016 year-end target: 2,050
Prior year-end target: 2,150
Comment: "The outlook for US growth is much more problematic than we would have hoped, with several manufacturing, capex and market indicators (which normally lead the economic cycle) pointing to a significant slowdown in US growth," Andrew Garthwaite wrote in a client note.
Source: Credit Suisse
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