Tag Archives: AI
Tech Tantrums
The past week has been turbulent for Big Tech, with disappointing reactions to earnings from Microsoft, Amazon and Alphabet, while Apple and Meta emerged relatively unscathed after announcing their results. Concerns about growing capital expenditures on AI1 among these giants have led to renewed bubble fears among market participants. In an environment characterized by such…
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How AI Is Transforming Index Construction: Introducing the S&P 3AI Indices
The recent advent of artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming daily life from streamlining routine tasks to augmenting productivity and facilitating data-driven decisions. Within indexing, it is a natural progression to explore how these technologies can enhance index construction within a human-validated and governed framework. Integrating machine learning, a subset of AI, systematically enables the analysis…
All That Glitters Isn’t Just Gold: 2025 Thematic Performance in Review
2025 Market Performance Markets delivered a strong year in 2025 across most parts of the globe. The S&P World Index was up 23%, while the S&P 500® was up 18% and posted 39 record closing highs during the year, despite persistent geopolitical, tariff and inflation pressure. Sector leadership in the U.S. was taken by Communication…
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Animal Spirits or Anxiety?
Big Tech and the strength of the Magnificent 7 stocks have powered the S&P 500® to 36 all-time closing highs through the end of October. Amid the euphoria, nervousness about the AI boom1 has sent jitters through the market, most recently with SoftBank’s sale of its stake in Nvidia. The extreme level of mega-cap dominance…
- Categories Equities, S&P 500 & DJIA
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Powering the Future amid the AI Surge
Reports indicate that AI is a major force driving markets, with nearly 50% of S&P 500® earnings estimated to be directly or indirectly linked to AI.1 The narrative surrounding AI earnings and spending is largely focused on the infrastructure development necessary to support the anticipated productivity boom, particularly in data centers and the power infrastructure….
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We Never Go out of Style
Style indices have behaved differently internationally and in the U.S. This year, U.S. growth stocks, represented by the S&P United States BMI Growth (up 14.8% as of the end of September 2025), outperformed the broader U.S. market (up 14.4%). Outside the U.S., the S&P Global Ex-U.S. BMI Value (up 30.7%) has performed better (see Exhibit…
Technology Breakthroughs Meet Industrial Metals Strength
September’s S&P Thematics Dashboard was led by strong performance across technology- and industrial metals-linked themes. Quantum Technology surged 38%, while precious and industrial metals rallied sharply amid macroeconomic signals. In contrast, different discretionary spending- and resources-related themes softened. Quantum and Data Infrastructure Lead Quantum Technology was the month’s standout. IBM and HSBC claimed the execution…
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Building the Future: How China Leverages Energy and Infrastructure to Supercharge Artificial Intelligence
China’s vast development of renewable energy and infrastructure is more than just an engineering feat. It is the foundation for the age of artificial intelligence. From solar farms to high-speed rail and 5G networks, these investments provide the power and connectivity needed to operate AI at scale. The impact of these advancements is reflected by…
- Categories Sustainability, Thematics
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Precious Metals Shine across August Thematics
August’s S&P Thematics Dashboard captures a market in motion—from precious metals rallying to multi-year highs to energy and technology themes. With the ongoing macro-political uncertainty in the backdrop, Silver (up 18%) reached a 14-year high, with Gold up 16% on dovish Fed expectations and a weaker U.S. dollar.1 This momentum extended across the metals complex,…
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AI, Energy and Everything in Between: Thematics in July 2025
Building on the launch of the inaugural S&P Thematics Dashboard, the July edition analyzes the monthly performance of a broad set of themes to uncover key market dynamics. Designed as a thematic market lens, the dashboard—developed in collaboration with Theia Insights—offers rich perspectives on market performance by leveraging nearly 200 themes shaping the global economy….
- Categories Thematics
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