The aggregate market capitalization of the Standard and Poor’s 500 (S&P 500) index companies grew 18.5% from $36.5 trillion to $43.2 trillion between 31 January 2023 and 31 January 2024. The Information Technology (IT) sector registered the most market gains over the period, followed by communication services and consumer discretionary*, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

Murthy Grandhi, Company Profiles Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Over the period, the S&P 500 index posted a 20.8% growth in annual returns. Microsoft, Apple, Alphabet, Amazon, NVIDIA, Meta, Berkshire Hathaway, Eli Lilly, Tesla, and Broadcom were the top 10 stocks that accounted for 33% of the S&P 500’s aggregate market capitalization.”

The aggregate market capitalization of the energy sector eroded by $168 billion to $1.5 trillion. It was followed by utilities, which saw an erosion of $108 billion to $1 trillion and real estate lost $26 billion with its market capitalization declining to $0.9 trillion.

In terms of market value percentage growth, IT companies outpaced others, having seen 44.9% growth over the period, with the market cap reaching $1.4 trillion. The sector constituents that grew more than 100% during the period included NVIDIA (216.2%), Broadcom (126%), Advanced Micro Devices (123.6%), Palo Alto Networks (122.5%), and Arista Networks (109%).

In terms of aggregate market value to number of constituents, communication services led with a value of $216.3 billion, followed by IT ($170.4 billion), consumer discretionary ($92.3 billion), health care ($84 billion), financials ($72.8 billion), energy ($72.7 billion), consumer staples ($69.2 billion), industrials ($48.3 billion), materials ($33.8 billion), real estate ($31.6 billion), and utilities ($31.1 billion).

In total, there are 15 new entrants, out of which Palo Alto Networks and Uber posted more than 100% growth. However, Insulet and Bunge posted more than a 10% loss in market value.

Grandhi concludes: “In 2024, the S&P 500 index may not replicate the remarkable gains experienced last year, as investors see challenges beyond monetary policy, including the economic outlook, corporate earnings releases, and the upcoming US presidential election. However, there is a noticeable uptick in positive investor sentiment, evident in the S&P 500 index’s 2% increase as of 9 February 2024, compared to its level on 31 January 2024.”

*Consumer discretionary is a term for classifying goods and services that are considered non-essential by consumers, but desirable if their available income is sufficient to purchase them