As The S&P Pushes New All-Time Highs, What Stocks Will Set The Pace Going Forward?

The following post was written and/or published as a collaboration between Benzinga’s in-house sponsored content team and a financial partner of Benzinga.

After months of unprecedented momentum, the S&P 500 has staged its quickest reversal in the index’s 63-year history, from being in a recessionary position to making new all-time highs. Put in concrete terms, the index lost and regained almost one-third of its value over the course of just six months.

While the broad momentum is immediately attractive, traders are eager to learn whether the leaders within the index will continue to push it higher or if other names might lead the charge to loftier levels.

Let’s take a look at some of the recent market activity and preview a few of the stocks that VantagePoint’s predictive A.I. will be analyzing in an upcoming live online training session

Tech Companies Set The Bar

Continuing a years-long trend, the major tech components of the S&P 500 remain among the index’s strongest performers.

A look at their performance over the period paints a clear picture of the enthusiasm the market had found for technology in the current public health environment. Microsoft Corporation MSFT has added more than 15% to its market cap this year while Apple Inc. AAPL recently became the first company ever to pass the $2T valuation mark after its stock gained roughly 60% year-to-date.

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Other high-valuation tech companies like Alphabet, Inc. GOOG GOOGL and Facebook, Inc. FB have charted a similar trajectory.

However, those high valuations have also put many of the blue-chip tech names into a tough technical position, with many of them trading sideways through much of the summer.

Laggards Show Signs Of Strength

Although the tech stocks may be hitting new peaks, there are plenty of other S&P components that have contributed to the index’s new high without blowing past their previous records, potentially giving them room to run should the market’s enthusiasm persist.

General Motors Company GM, for instance, posted 20% gains through July and August to approach a new six-month high following news that the company would be shifting more resources to the development of electric vehicles. While shares remain about 18% off their 2020 high following the March sell-off that hit industrials hard, the price disparity could provide the stock room to run as investors continue to watch the company’s EV initiatives evolve.

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Retail is another hard-hit sector that has shown reliance through the summer, thanks in part to strong earnings performance in the most recent delivery period. Target Corporation TGT and  L Brands, Inc. LB are among those that have rebounded off of better-than-expected earnings, hitting new 52-week highs as a result.

Other names in retail have moved in sympathy with this pattern, specifically The Gap, Inc. GPS, which is approaching a new 6-month high in the waning days of August. The company is set to report on August 27th, which may prompt a dramatic move in either direction depending on the quality of the results.

What Happens Next? 

While the market may seem unpredictable at times, VantagePoint’s dual-patented advanced machine learning software has been shown to anticipate market trends up to 3 days ahead with an 87.4% accuracy rate.

Click to save your spot to VantagePoint’s upcoming online trading session to gain insight into where the market leaders might be headed next.

The preceding post was written and/or published as a collaboration between Benzinga’s in-house sponsored content team and a financial partner of Benzinga. Although the piece is not and should not be construed as editorial content, the sponsored content team works to ensure that any and all information contained within is true and accurate to the best of their knowledge and research. This content is for informational purposes only and not intended to be investing advice.