Goldman Sachs says U.S. households are likely to remain net buyers of equities this year, helped by steady contributions to 401(k) plans and other retirement accounts. The bank argues that those flows will provide an important cushion for the stock market even as other sources of demand wane. The forecast comes as the latest corporate share-buyback blackout took effect on 16 June, temporarily sidelining roughly 200 S&P 500 companies from repurchasing their own shares. Buybacks have been a major pillar of demand in recent years, and their absence shifts greater responsibility to retail and retirement investors, Goldman’s strategists wrote. Foreign appetite for U.S. assets also shows little sign of slowing. Overseas investors now hold about $26 trillion more in U.S. securities than Americans own abroad, according to market data cited in several research notes. Foreign allocation to U.S. equities stands near a record 60 percent, with roughly $19 trillion invested in American stocks. Bank of America projects foreign purchases of U.S. assets could total $138 billion in 2025, the second-largest yearly inflow on record and part of the $547 billion accumulated since 2020. Combined with domestic buying, that has driven the overall equity allocation of households, mutual funds, pension funds and foreign investors to an unprecedented 53 percent, while cash holdings have fallen to historic lows, underscoring both the market’s current support and its growing exposure to any reversal in flows.