SPX: S&P 500 Dives to End 2024 but Notches Annual Back-to-Back Gain of Over 20%

Broad-based index logged a hefty 23% gain in 2024, adding to a 24% increase in 2023. Can it do a three-peat this year?

• The S&P 500 index was on a tear in 2024 and exited it with a 23% increase thanks to a flurry of events and reports around favorable interest rates, receding inflation and a resilient labor market. Still, it was a pretty disappointing close of the year with the final trading day marking a decline of 0.4%, the index’s fourth straight session in red. More than a trillion dollars were knocked from the Wall Street’s average but does anyone care?
• The S&P 500 notched another year of a +20% advance after it added 24% in 2023. In other words, the index boasts just about 50% growth in the latest two-year stretch. That’s the best back-to-back annual performance since the late 1990s and marks an era of breakneck developments in the artificial intelligence space. A few key players stand out from the crowds and they’re collectively called the Magnificent Seven.
• In all, the equity benchmark added about $10 trillion to its market capitalization last year to sit at roughly $46 trillion. At its ultimate record, however, the index touched $50 trillion but that’s in the rearview now as traders struggle to come up with new reasons to jam more billions into the risky asset class. And with that, we’re moving into the new year with new expectations of even more growth, profits and successful trades!