While a small group of well-known tech stocks has been driving big gains for the stock market this year, it’s a large portion of bank stocks that have outperformed the S&P 500.
Some 61% of the S&P 500’s financials sector has outpaced the broader index’s gain of more than 22% so far this year, the highest share of the index’s 11 sectors, according to LPL Financial.
The S&P 500’s financial sector was up 26.6% in 2024 through Thursday, according to FactSet.
“The sectors with the lowest percentage of stocks beating the broader market lean defensive, although utilities is a notable exception as 55% of sector stocks are outpacing the index this year,” Adam Turnquist, chief technical strategist at LPL Financial, wrote in a Thursday client note.