RBC's Markets in Motion

The big things you need to know:
First, valuation opportunity is opening up in the US equity market from a variety of perspectives.
Second, in the aftermath of Wednesday’s Fed meeting, we highlight how the stock market tends to experience choppy performance in the first few months under a new Fed Chair.
Third, other things that jump out in our updates this week include the return of high EPS quality outperformance as a factor in both the S&P 500 and Russell 2000, the modest uptick in stock market optimism in the Conference Board consumer survey that was out this week, and what we’re watching on the midterms (which we continue to see as a risk factor in the months ahead).
Fourth, we’ve gone through our monthly refresh of the models that feed into our 12-month S&P 500 price target and are sticking with our 8,150 forecast, though we continue to believe that the path for stocks will not be a linear one.

The big things you need to know:
First, the stats for 2Q26 reporting season have continued to come in mixed, arguing for selectivity rather than a leadership rotation, in our view.
Second, last week’s earnings commentary from S&P 500 companies reiterated the themes of resiliency and AI tailwinds, but didn’t give us much insight on how to think about recent war developments.
Third, we review how we’re thinking about the role of the retail investor in today’s US equity market, which differs in some respects from the past, and how we’re monitoring risks on this front.
Fourth, other things that jump out in our updates this week include the return of S&P 500 Semi & Semi Equipment valuations to average levels and the bright spots we’re seeing in our quant work on Japan.

The big things you need to know:
The big things you need to know: First, the early stats from 2Q26 reporting season look a little mixed as reporting season kicks into high gear.
Second, early earnings commentary from the companies that reported over the past week highlights a cautiously optimistic tone, consumer resiliency, and complicated AI impacts.
Third, other things that jumped out in our latest updates include further evidence of stabilizing sentiment on the NFIB and University of Michigan consumer sentiment surveys (which have encouraged the rotation trade) and evidence of weaker flows to US equities (which point to the possibility of some geographical pressure on the US equity market).

The big things you need to know:
First, we are making several changes to our S&P 500 sector views with upgrades to Tech to overweight and Consumer Discretionary to market weight, alongside downgrades of Communication Services to market weight and Utilities to underweight.
Second, the expected growth rate for 2Q26 S&P 500 EPS has continued to drift up ahead of reporting season, but trends in beat rates and EPS revisions have been mixed.
Third, on our broader outlook we’re on guard for a shift back into US and mega cap Growth leadership.

The big things you need to know:
First, across the globe our analysts are constructive on performance over the next 6-12 months and see attractive valuations in the industries they cover.
Second, Europe and Canada captured the most optimistic performance outlooks among our four coverage regions, but the US was not far behind.
Third, our Canadian and US analysts expressed a favorable view of their own respective domestic policy backdrops. On the US midterm elections, our US analysts had a slightly constructive tilt on performance in a Republican sweep scenario, a slightly negative tilt on performance in a Democratic sweep scenario, and a neutral view on performance in a split Congress scenario.
Fourth, at the global sector level, performance outlooks were mostly positive and came in stronger than other sectors for Materials and Industrials, but only by a little.