Analysts bullish on US earnings estimates

NEW YORK: Analysts are raising US profit estimates for the first time since credit markets froze two years ago, reducing valuations even after the steepest rally since the Great Depression.

Wall Street firms raised forecasts on Standard & Poor's 500 Index companies 896 times in June and lowered 886, according to data compiled by JPMorgan Chase & Co. The last time analysts were bullish on a net basis was in April 2007, before more than $1.5 trillion of bank losses tied to subprime loans spurred the first global recession since World War II, the data show.