Overview
- U.S. indexes start the week within a hair of all‑time highs, with CME FedWatch showing roughly an 87%–90% probability of a 25 basis‑point cut at Wednesday’s FOMC meeting.
- Investors are focused on the tone of Chair Jerome Powell’s press conference, as Deutsche Bank expects dissent that could be the largest split on the committee since 1992.
- Top banks’ 2026 S&P 500 targets cluster around 7,100–8,000, leaning on earnings growth, AI‑driven capex and prospective easing, while acknowledging elevated valuations as a risk.
- S&P Global will add CRH, Carvana and Comfort Systems USA to the S&P 500 on Dec. 22, driving premarket gains on anticipated index‑tracking flows.
- IBM agreed to acquire Confluent for $31 per share in an $11 billion deal, and President Trump said Netflix’s planned purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery “could be a problem” for market share.