Tag Archives: information technology
Why U.S. Sectors Matter to Europe
The first half of 2026 was notable for U.S. equity markets1 and was characterized by sharp sector performance reversals, particularly in S&P 500® Information Technology and S&P 500 Energy. Both sectors were up 20% YTD through Q2,2 but they took very different paths to get there. During the first quarter, Energy stocks had an outsized…
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Choppy Chips
The U.S. market has been buffeted by swings in the performance of semiconductor companies, as investors have become increasingly anxious about the outlook for the tech sector and whether a regime change is in store. The choppiness has been global in nature, sparked by a steep sell-off in Korean chipmakers, with the S&P Korea BMI…
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Regimes, Reversals and Risk
The S&P 500® gained 15% in Q2 2026, posting its best quarter since Q2 2020. The steady drumbeat of AI-related enthusiasm propelled the market upward despite numerous obstacles, including the war with Iran, rising inflation and fears of Fed rate hikes. However, the start of Q3 has been rocky, with a sharp sell-off in chipmakers,…
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Spot the Difference
From a U.S. equities perspective, the first month of 2026 started on a different trajectory compared to years past. S&P 500® performance trailed much of the rest of the world (as measured by the S&P World Ex-U.S. Index), and within the U.S., the performance of the S&P 500 Information Technology (“U.S. Tech”) ranked in the…
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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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Big Tech, Breadth and Balance
U.S. equity markets have been whipsawed in the past few days, with initial optimism surrounding Big Tech earnings powering the S&P 500® to an intraday high, and subsequent disappointing reactions to earnings coupled with the Fed’s decision to hold rates steady leading to a sharp retreat for The 500®. The pullback in Tech and the…
Inside the Annual Style Indices Rebalance: Methodology, Process and Outcomes
The S&P U.S. Style Indices completed their annual rebalance in December 2025. Exhibit 1 shows that the 2025 changes were less pronounced than prior years: turnover for the S&P 500® Growth and S&P 500 Value was lower than the past three annual rebalances. Nonetheless, there were several shifts in index composition. The most significant movement was…
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…
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Diversification across Durations
The S&P 500® surged to a third all-time closing high on Oct. 28, 2025, up 18% YTD. But the ride for U.S. equity investors has not always been a smooth one, with the index recouping sharp losses from earlier in the month on renewed tariff-related concerns and regional bank losses, coupled with AI bubble1 jitters…
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A Tale of Two Markets
After the volatility witnessed in early April, U.S. equities have staged a remarkable recovery over the past couple of weeks, with the S&P 500® up 1% YTD through May 15, 2025, reversing its 15% YTD decline through April 8, 2025. Thanks to optimism surrounding easing tariff tensions and strong Big Tech earnings, mega caps have…
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