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Apollo, for one, expects just one rate cut in 2025. JPMorgan strategists forecast two. Goldman Sachs last week updated its prediction to three, starting in September, arguing that moderating growth and elevated borrowing costs will force the Fed’s hand.

After a turbulent first half of the year, here's what top strategists are forecasting for the next six months.

A mixed day of trading left the U.S. stock market split, as Wall Street’s momentum slowed after setting record highs in each of the last two days

The White House rolled out a series of new tariff announcements this week, yet the S&P 500, Nasdaq, bitcoin, and Nvidia have all notched all-time highs over the last 24 hours. Meanwhile, the VIX — Wall Street’s fear gauge — has collapsed well below its long-run average after surging to historic highs in April.

At the start of 2025, Wall Street firms projected the S&P 500 would end the year anywhere between 6,400 and 7,100. Now their forecasts have widened dramatically to a range of 5,200 to 7,000.

Wall Street also got a boost from easing yields in the bond market. The S&P 500 jumped 1.1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 383 points, or 0.9%, and the Nasdaq composite rose 1.4%.

When that happens, Wall Street may see a dramatic resurgence of two types of stocks that have been left on the sidelines recently: small-company stocks and so-called value stocks, meaning the stocks of less glamorous, slower-growing companies that also happen to be reasonably cheap in relation to their earnings, dividends and net assets.