What Stocks Drove The Recent Record Rally? A Breakdown You Can't Miss

November has burst onto the scene with resounding optimism in the U.S. stock market.

The S&P 500, closely monitored through the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY), has showcased an impressive six-session winning streak and is currently up 0.4% on Tuesday.

The tech-skewed Nasdaq 100, closely tracked by the Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ), has already secured its seventh consecutive positive session and appeared poised to extend this streak into the eighth one during Tuesday’s session.

These remarkable performances marked the longest sustained uptrend for both indices in the past two years.

This surging market momentum was not limited to large-cap stocks alone. Even the Russell 2000, as tracked by the iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE:IWM), which focuses on small-cap companies, delivered its most outstanding weekly performance since February 2021, an indication that the rising tide lifted all boats.

While the factors that drove this rally can be attributed to a more dovish-than-expected Fed meeting and softer labor market data which led speculators to bet on four rate cuts in 2024, a breakdown of the key sectors and stocks that recently moved the market helps better understand the underlying dynamics.

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Equity Sector And Industry Performance

In the past week, the technology sector has outperformed all other 10 sectors within the S&P 500 index, with consumer discretionary and communication services following closely behind.

The Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLK) has exhibited impressive gains, surging by 6.5% month-to-date. This performance surpasses the 6.1% increase observed in the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLY) and the 4.8% rise in the Communication Services Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLC).

Conversely, the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLE) stands as the sole sector experiencing a decline, with a notable decrease of up to 2%. Meanwhile, both the materials and consumer staples sectors have also fallen behind the broader market’s performance.

This trend highlighted growth sectors such as technology performed exceptionally well compared to value sectors. This was because concerns about rising interest rates eased, leading to a rally in the parts of the market most affected by interest rate changes.

Looking at specific equity industries, the iShares U.S. Home Construction ETF (NYSE:ITB) and the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (NYSE:SMH) demonstrated the strongest performance, with gains of 11% and 8.4%, respectively.

On the other hand, industries related to energy, such as those represented by the SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (NYSE:XOP) and the VanEck Oil Services ETF (NYSE:OIH), experienced the most significant declines, with decreases of 4.2% and 1.9%, respectively.

Single Stock Performance

The top 10 performing S&P 500 stocks month-to-date are:

1. Expedia Group Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE): 25.3%
2. Generac Holdings Inc. (NYSE:GNRC): 24.5%
3. Insulet Corp. (NASDAQ:PODD): 22.9%
4. Gartner Inc. (NYSE:IT): 19%
5. Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA): 18.1%
6. Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD): 16.3%
7. DR Horton Inc (NYSE:DHI): 15.9%
8. Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD): 15.2%
9. Trane Technologies PLC (NYSE:TT): 14.8%
10. Dominion Energy Inc (NYSE:D): 13.8%

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