The US stock market hit a low a year ago, with the S&P 500 falling 34% in just 23 trading days.
At the time, few could suggest the recovery of the market, including 34 record highs for the index since last year’s low. Despite a global pandemic that killed nearly 550,000 people in the US, eliminated millions of jobs and restricted economic activity, the stock index rose to new highs.
Behind the wonderful rally is a series of factors, including initially the rapid emergency measures of the Federal Reserve to support financial markets and the economy. It helped down the 2020 U.S. equities and started a piece of sustained leadership through growth and technology stocks. As investors piled up in the stock market again last year, they have taken up shares in companies that have benefited from the pandemic. Unlike sectors such as energy and retail, which are suddenly confronted with uncertainty, technological stocks are being praised by some analysts as having great growth potential.
Recently, however, the rally came to a halt and briefly corrected the technological Nasdaq Composite – a 10% drop from a recent high. Since the index’s recent record high on February 12, growth and technology stocks have struggled greatly. In contrast, other sectors rose, including energy and finance.
The following charts give a description of how the market has changed since February 12th.