Seven hundred and forty-five days after its last historical peak, the S&P 500 index has once again surpassed its record highs, reaching 4,839 points by the end of Friday’s trading session, a record close. It’s a historical milestone for the index that represents the 500 largest capitalized companies in the broader U.S. stock market.
The surge can be largely attributed to the remarkable performance of U.S. tech giants often referred to as the “Magnificent Seven.” Additionally, semiconductor stocks and other players in the field of artificial intelligence have played a significant role in driving this growth.
The sustained decline in inflation has prompted the Federal Reserve to conclude its tightening cycle, opening up the possibility of interest rate cuts in 2024. Traders have priced in more aggressive rate cuts by the end of the year than what the Fed indicated in December.
Which stocks were the largest gainers and contributors to the S&P 500’s new all-time high?
S&P 500’s Top Gainers, Contributors In 2024
In 2023, NVIDIA Corp. NVDA, Meta Platforms Inc. META, and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. AMD emerged as the top-performing stocks within the S&P 500, each boasting triple-digit percentage gains.
As the new year begins, let’s take a look at the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY’s leading performers through Friday, Jan. 19:
| Company | Sector | Price | YTD Return |
|---|---|---|---|
| Juniper Networks, Inc. JNPR | Information Technology | 37.47 | 27.09% |
| NVIDIA Corporation NVDA | Information Technology | 591.45 | 19.34% |
| Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. AMD | Information Technology | 172.25 | 16.85% |
| Palo Alto Networks, Inc. PANW | Information Technology | 336.72 | 14.19% |
| Arista Networks, Inc. ANET | Information Technology | 262.80 | 11.59% |
| Intuitive Surgical, Inc. ISRG | Health Care | 375.65 | 11.35% |
| The Allstate Corporation ALL | Financials | 155.17 | 10.85% |
| The Travelers Companies, Inc. TRV | Financials | 210.96 | 10.75% |
| Catalent, Inc. CTLT | Health Care | 49.34 | 9.80% |
| Arch Capital Group Ltd. ACGL | Financials | 81.00 | 9.06% |
The largest contributors to the broader year-to-date performance of the index were:
| Company | Price | Weight in the S&P 500 | YTD Return | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NVIDIA Corporation | 591.30 | 3.51% | 19.40% | +0.5pp |
| Microsoft Corporation MSFT | 397.93 | 7.29% | 5.57% | +0.41pp |
| Meta Platforms, Inc. META | 383.22 | 1.24% | 8.27% | +0.16pp |
| Broadcom Inc. AVGO | 1,211.70 | 2.08% | 16.85% | +0.10pp |
| Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. | 172.25 | 0.65% | 7.71% | +0.10pp |
| Alphabet Inc. GOOGL GOOG | 147.62 | 3.90% | 4.75% | +0.09pp |
| Eli Lilly and Company LLY | 627.13 | 1.80% | 7.75% | +0.09pp |
| Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN | 155.61 | 3.48% | 2.27% | +0.09pp |
| Merck & Co., Inc. MRK | 147.62 | 0.75% | 4.60% | +0.06pp |
| AbbVie Inc. ABBV | 164.68 | 0.72% | 7.27% | +0.05pp |
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