U.S. stocks continue to rise this year

BlackRock expects U.S. stocks to rise 10% or more this year.

Rick Rieder, chief investment officer of BlackRock's global fixed-income division, said that as inflation cools and corporate earnings continue to grow, U.S. stocks are still expected to rise 10% or more in 2022. The strength of the U.S. economy should help companies achieve better financial performance, and he expects U.S. GDP to grow by around 7% in 2022 and corporate earnings to grow by around 12% to 15%.

On the issue of inflation, Reid believes the pressure that has pushed inflation to a 39-year high will ease.

The S&P 500 is down more than 5% so far this year as markets quickly reassess the direction of U.S. interest rates. Traders now expect the Fed to raise interest rates four times this year, starting in March, and markets remained divided on whether to raise rates ahead of the recent stock market sell-off.