Wall Street strategist Ed Yardeni stated that despite last week's market gains following Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's hints at rate cuts, August's Consumer Price Index (CPI), employment reports, and potentially a "few" other indicators coming in above expectations could lead the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) to delay easing policies.

Yardeni wrote on Sunday: "This is why we're sticking with our S&P 500 targets — 6,600 by the end of 2025 and 7,700 by the end of next year. We assign a 55% subjective probability to this base case scenario... If the Fed cuts rates in September as widely expected by the market, a 'melt-up' becomes more likely, which could push the index to 7,000 by the end of 2025." He added: "We expect that by 2026, the bull market will be increasingly driven by earnings rather than valuations."