UBS joins Wall Street firms in cutting S&P 500's annual target to below 6500

(Reuters) - UBS Global Wealth Management cut the S&P 500's 2025 target to below the 6,500 mark, widely mirroring actions from other Wall Street firms including Barclays and Goldman Sachs, due to the economic impact of U.S. tariffs.

The wealth management unit of European bank UBS, cut its year-end index target to 6,400 from 6,600 even as it holds an "attractive" view on U.S. equities.

UBS also lowered its 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimate for the S&P 500 to $265 from $270.

"It seems likely that the policy uncertainty shock will lead to further weakness in economic and corporate profit readings in the next several weeks. This could lead to continued volatility in U.S. equity markets in the short term," UBS strategists said in a note dated Thursday.

U.S. President Donald Trump has put a raft of tariffs on its key trading partners, the latest being a 25% levy on auto imports that has unsettled global financial markets.

The benchmark index has fallen over 4% this year including Friday's losses, having entered correction territory in March.

UBS still hopes for U.S. equities to reverse course and rise by the end of the year, driven by policy clarity, durable economic growth and investment in artificial intelligence.

The brokerage's current index target is still 12% higher than the last close of 5,693.31.

UBS sees information technology as the 'most attractive' among index sectors, betting on growth from AI investments.

Earlier this month, Barclays, Goldman and RBC had cut their S&P 500 index targets due to uncertainty from tariffs.

(Reporting by Rashika Singh and Siddarth S in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed)