Wall Street's big but narrow rally: 4 in 10 S&P stocks are down this year
SPY•The S&P 500 has gained 14% in 2026, but more than 200 index companies have fallen, and the median stock is up barely 4%. Technology has contributed more than 10 percentage points to the index's gain.
1. Gains concentrated in a few stocks
More than 4 in 10 current S&P 500 companies are down this year, while a quarter of the index is lower by 11% or more. Memory-chip makers Sandisk and Micron Technology have each more than tripled, while the median S&P 500 stock has gained barely 4%.
2. Technology drives index returns
Eight of the S&P 500's 11 sector indexes are up this year. Energy has climbed 42% and technology 32%, but technology's size means it accounts for more than 10 percentage points of the index's gain, compared with less than 1% from energy. Nvidia has contributed almost 2% to the benchmark's gain, while Apple, Micron and Advanced Micro Devices have each contributed more than 1%.
3. Breadth remains weak
Fewer than half of current S&P 500 companies are trading above their 200-day moving averages. The article cites higher interest rates and the concentration of investor interest in AI-related companies as factors weighing on other stocks.
