Goldman Sachs Sees Slower Global Stock Gains Over the Next Year

Goldman Sachs expects global stock markets to deliver slower gains over the next year after strong returns in the past 12 months.

Peter Oppenheimer, the firm's chief global equity strategist, said major markets worldwide, including the S&P 500, posted remarkable returns over the past year, according to an O'Daily report published on September 3. With investors having already made substantial gains, returns are set to be lower going forward.

Oppenheimer projects that returns across major regional equity markets will mostly stay in the mid- to high-single digits over the next 12 months. In his view, the sharp rally in global stocks over the past year will be hard to sustain.

Earlier this year, Goldman Sachs said earnings at major companies and global economic growth would support global equities. Even so, the bank said at the time that valuations for major stocks had reached historically high levels after last year's steep advance.