Institution: The post-Labor Day rise of the S&P 500 index will face a key test.

Raymond James warns that the U.S. stock market, driven by strong earnings, declining yields, and weakening oil prices, will face tests in the coming weeks. Potential risks include geopolitical tensions, new job data, and the bond market's reaction to court rulings on tariffs during the Trump era. The firm also points out that the momentum in the AI sector is gradually weakening, as concerns grow about the performance of new models and stalled project progress, although cloud service spending remains strong. Raymond James expects that the earnings growth of mid-cap and small-cap stocks will accelerate from the end of 2025 to 2026, but also cautions that similar optimistic expectations from a year ago did not materialize.