The Financial Post reports in its Thursday, March 14, edition that improved corporate earnings are driving stock markets to reach record highs. A Financial Times dispatch to the Post reports that this is causing analysts to forecast further gains in what some describe as a "risk reset." Various indexes, including Wall Street's S&P 500 and the Nasdaq composite, have all hit their highest-ever levels. This is due to hopes that central banks have been successful in controlling inflation without causing an economic downturn. Goldman Sachs and UBS have both upgraded their year-end forecasts for the S&P 500, and Bank of America has raised its year-end prediction to 5,400, which is about 5 per cent above the index's current levels. UBS manager Evan Brown says: "It's like a reset of the risk cycle. Everyone's been anticipating a recession for a long time and it hasn't materialized." He describes the growing enthusiasm for stocks as a release of pent-up risk appetite. While equities markets rallied in December on the back of hopes that the Federal Reserve would cut interest rates as many as six times this year, the rally has continued even though investors have scaled back their expectations to only three or four cuts.