Earnings outlooks for 6 of 10 S&P sectors at highs ( SPU SPX ) (by Greg Morcroft)

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Six of the S&P 500's (spx) 10 sectors' forward earnings expectations are at cyclical or record highs and the index itself could add more than 10% by year end, strategist Ed Yardeni said in a Thursday research report. He pointed out that consumer discretionary, consumer staples, health care, industrials and information technology groups in the index are at record highs. The financial sector's foward earnings expectation is at a cyclical high, or the highest level since the beginning of the bull market in March of 2009, Yardeni said. "Could it be that industry analysts didn't get the memo about the global economic slowdown?" he writes. Taking things a step further, Yardeni says his valuation research supports expectations of as much as an 11% S&P gain by year-end.