Stocks are ending 2024 near record highs.
Over the past 12 months, the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) has rallied more than 31% and the S&P 500 (^GSPC) has climbed over 25%. Meanwhile, the blue-chip Dow Jones (^DJI) has risen a more modest 14%.
Despite declines in the market in recent weeks, investors have found reasons to be optimistic about the future based on major headlines this past year. The Federal Reserve made its first interest rate cut in roughly four years in 2024. Meanwhile, news of a changing of the guard in the White House drove stocks higher.
Earnings growth accelerated. The market rally finally began to broaden. And despite a brief growth scare that spooked investors in late summer, the US economy is ending 2024 on solid footing.
Below is a collection of 10 charts that tell the story of market and economic resiliency this past year — with all eyes set on 2025.
It was a record-setting year on Wall Street, with the S&P 500 clinching 57 records to fall into the top five years for most all-time highs recorded by the benchmark index.
Two years into the bull market, strategists pin the rally on strong corporate earnings and outsized momentum from several members of the “Magnificent Seven” tech stocks, which include chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA), along with Tesla (TSLA), Alphabet (GOOGL, GOOG), Amazon (AMZN), Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), and Meta (META).
Earnings picked up across sectors in 2024, with growth finally expanding beyond the “Magnificent Seven” names as the other 493 S&P 500 companies exited their earnings recession.
With S&P 500 earnings expected to grow 15% year over year in 2025, per FactSet data, a continued expansion of earnings growth is a key catalyst many bullish strategists are watching.
“The weight of evidence suggest the primary market trend remains higher, driven by earnings growth in 2025,” Truist co-chief investment officer Keith Lerner wrote in his 2025 market outlook.
While a broadening of the stock market rally was a theme for parts of the year, the Magnificent Seven still posted another banner year.
Nvidia rallied more than 175%. Meanwhile, Alphabet, Amazon, Tesla, and Meta all rose 30% or more and outpaced both the Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500.
This leaves the benchmark index continuously concentrated in just a few large names. As of Dec. 23, the 10 largest stocks in the S&P 500 accounted for 39.9% of the index’s market cap, per Charles Schwab senior investment strategist Kevin Gordon. That’s the largest share seen in at least the last 30 years.
