Despite an attempt to broaden away from megacap tech, Wall Street remains reliant on those names. The S & P 500 climbed around 23% between the start of 2024 and Dec. 19. Bespoke Investment Group found that the “Magnificent 7” — a group that includes high fliers such as Nvidia , Microsoft , Apple and Meta Platforms — contributed 13.7 percentage points, or more than half, of that total gain. Coming off 2023’s year of tech driving the broader market rebound, investors wondered if the bull market could expand and have other groups participate. While there were points at which smaller stocks broke out, Bespoke’s data underscores how the 2024 rally ultimately ended up reliant on Big Tech. To be sure, there were reasons to believe other stocks could start outperforming with the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates and Donald Trump winning the presidential election. However, cold water was poured on those expectations this month. While the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite has been able to continue climbing in December, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average and broad S & P 500 have retreated by more than 5% and 2%, respectively. The small cap-focused Russell 2000 has tumbled nearly 8% in that time. What’s more, the Nasdaq’s outperformance on the year further underscores the unique strength seen among tech and other growth-centric names this year. .IXIC .DJI,.SPX YTD mountain Nasdaq vs. the Dow and S & P 500, year to date At times, there was even talk that the market was further concentrating. The “Fab 4” was considered a replacement for the Mag 7 as Apple, Alphabet and Tesla showed signs of deterioration earlier in the year. While all Mag 7 stocks are on track to gains, the strength of annual returns has varied widely. Artificial intelligence titan Nvidia has led the way in 2024 with a surge of around 175% as of Tuesday morning, making it the third biggest gainer in the entire S & P 500. On the other hand, Microsoft has actually underperformed the broad market with a jump of less than 14% this year. Regardless of that varied performance, some market participants like David Miller, co-founder at Catalyst Funds, see reason to believe this group can keep leading the way. “The Mag 7 stocks are generating significant growth in terms of revenue and earnings power,” he said earlier this month. “These companies are massive monopoly businesses with strong fundamental tail winds. I have no reason to believe that the Mag 7 names won’t continue to dominate the S & P in 2025.”
