U.S. Performance Dashboard – September 2024
|
| dashboard-us-2024-09 |
U.S. Performance Dashboard – August 2024
- Thanks to optimism surrounding a soft landing and encouraging inflation results, U.S. large-cap equities managed to recover from the trouncing of stocks at the start of the month to finish August with a gain. The S&P 500® was up 2% in August, outpacing the S&P MidCap 400® and the S&P SmallCap 600®.
- Consumer Staples and Real Estate led among large-cap sectors. Meanwhile, Energy and Consumer Discretionary were the laggards, a potential signal of risk-off sentiment carrying over from the global tumult earlier in the month.
- In another sign of defense, low volatility and low volatility high dividend strategies led among our reported factor indices.
U.S. Performance Dashboard – June 2024
- Markets shrugged off inflation concerns and uncertainty over the timing of potential Fed rate cuts thanks to AI-related optimism. Powered by mega-cap outperformance, U.S. large-cap equities surged upwards, with the S&P 500 up 4% and the S&P 500 Top 50 up 9% in Q2.
- Mid and small caps didn’t fare as well as their large-cap peers, with the S&P MidCap 400 and the S&P SmallCap 600 both down 3%.
- Information Technology and Communication Services were the top-performing sectors, up 14% and 9%, respectively.dashboard-us-2024-06
U.S. Performance Dashboard – May 2024
- Despite weakness in the final trading week of May, U.S. large-cap equities posted their best monthly performance since February, with the S&P 500 up 5%, thanks to AI-related optimism boosting Information Technology and Utilities stocks.
- Mid and small caps fared similarly to their large-cap peers, with the S&P MidCap 400 and the S&P SmallCap 600 up 4% and 5%, respectively.
- Except for Energy, all sectors posted gains, led by Information Technology, up 10%. dashboard-us-2024-05
U.S. Performance Dashboard – April 2024
- As growing concerns surrounding rising inflation and the resulting hawkish sentiment from the Fed led to market jitters, U.S. equities tumbled in April, with the S&P 500® down 4%.
- Mid and small-caps fared worse than their large-cap peers, with the S&P MidCap 400® and the S&P SmallCap 600® both down 6%.
- All sectors posted losses, with the exception of Utilities, up 2%.dashboard-us-2024-04
U.S. Performance Dashboard – March 2024
- Despite uncertainty surrounding potential Fed rate cuts, economic strength and diminishing recession fears led to the best Q1 U.S. market performance since 2019, with the S&P 500® up 11%. Mega-cap dominance was pervasive, with the S&P 500 Top 50 up 12%.
- The broadening of the rally continued in March, with the S&P MidCap 400® up 6%, outpacing the S&P 500’s 3% gain.
- Except for Real Estate, all sectors posted gains in Q1, led by Communication Services and Energy.
U.S. Performance Dashboard – February 2024
- Markets shook off looming concerns over inflation and the Fed’s future rate trajectory with more record highs in February, driving the S&P 500® up 5%. With a consistent tailwind of interest in AI and generally better than expected Q4 earnings, mega caps continued to show strength with the S&P 500 Top 50 up 6%.
- While small caps lagged, the rally began to broaden with mid caps slightly outpacing their large-cap counterparts, with the S&P MidCap 400® up 6%.
- All sectors posted gains, led by Consumer Discretionary and Industrials.
U.S. Performance Dashboard – January 2024
- Despite a sharp drop on the final trading day of the month post Fed Chair Powell’s comments indicating rate cuts were not imminent, the S&P 500® rose 2% in January. The month was characterized by a series of record highs, driven by strength from the Magnificent 7, which propelled the mega-cap S&P 500 Top 50 up 3%.
- Strong Q4 2023 economic data also dampened optimism that the Fed would be able to begin cutting rates as soon as March, reflected in the underperformance of smaller caps, with the S&P SmallCap 600® down 4%.
- Sector performance was mixed, with gains led by Communication Services and Information Technology. Materials and Real Estate were among the laggards
U.S. Performance Dashboard – December 2023
- After a dismal 2022, the market recovered with a vengeance in 2023. Closing out the year with nine consecutive weeks of gains, the S&P 500® finished with an impressive 26% return for the year. The relentless strength of the Magnificent Seven powered those gains throughout, pushing the mega-cap S&P 500 Top 50 up a stonking 38%.
- Thanks to optimism that the Fed would be able to engineer a soft landing, overall market sentiment improved drastically in the last two months of the year. This broadened the rally, with the S&P MidCap 400® and S&P SmallCap 600® both rising 16% for 2023.
- Most sectors posted gains, led by Information Technology, up an astounding 58%, with Communication Services close behind, up 56%.
dashboard-us-2023-12
U.S. Performance Dashboard – November 2023
- Optimism returned to the market with a vengeance in November, as cooling inflation readings raised expectations for future Fed rate cuts, boosting U.S. equities, with the S&P 500® up 9% in November.
- With the exception of Energy, all sectors posted gains, led by Information Technology, up a staggering 13%.
- Consistent with the upbeat market sentiment, High Beta and Momentum led among factor indices, while their defensive counterparts Dividend Aristocrats and Low Volatility unsurprisingly lagged.dashboard-us-2023-11