(Reuters) – UBS raised its year-end 2024 forecast for the MSCI All Country (AC) World index to 830 from 800 on Tuesday, citing improving equity risk appetite, optimism around artificial intelligence and a potential slowing of U.S. wage growth.
The brokerage’s current forecast gives a 6% ‘upside’ potential by the end of the year for the benchmark index, which is used to gauge the broader global equity market performance.
Expectations of monetary policy easing by major central banks, weaker global economic data and euphoria around AI has supported global equities this year.
“The market seems to be transitioning much more quickly than we had expected to reacting positively to weaker data,” said UBS strategists in a note.
On the AI front, UBS added, “If GenAI pushes up productivity growth by 1% from 2028, then the equity risk premium is 4.7%.”
UBS also sees factors like earnings revisions, a pause in interest rates by the U.S. Federal Reserve also boosting the global equity market.
(Reporting by Siddarth S in Bengaluru; Editing by Varun H K and Nivedita Bhattacharjee)
