Q2 2023 Market Review
Market Recap
Global equities continued to rally in the second quarter, led by surging U.S. mega-cap technology and growth stocks, particularly anything related to Artificial Intelligence (AI).
The S&P 500 index gained 6.6% in June and 8.7% in the second quarter, driving its year-to-date return to 16.9% overall. The technology heavy Nasdaq Composite has driven the majority of returns in U.S. stocks, rising over 13% in the second quarter, and 32% year to date.
Outside the U.S., stocks in Europe and emerging-markets have also posted solid results. Developed international stocks (MSCI EAFE Index) rallied 4.6% in June, gaining 3% for the quarter and 11.7% YTD. Emerging markets stocks (MSCI EM Index) rose 3.8% in June, resulting in a 0.9% gain for the second quarter and a 4.9% return YTD.
Moving to the fixed-income markets, core bond returns (Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index) were slightly negative for the quarter as interest rates slightly rose/prices fell. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield ended the second quarter at 3.8%, up from 3.5% at the end of March. Riskier high-yield bonds (ICE BofA U.S. High Yield Index) gained 1.6% for the quarter and are up 5.4% YTD. Municipal bonds (Morningstar National Muni Bond Category) were generally flat on the quarter and up 2.3% YTD. Actively managed flexible/nontraditional bond funds (Morningstar Nontraditional Bond Category) gained around 2% and are up over 5% for the year.
The Narrowest Stock Market in at Least 50 Years
The market-cap-weighted S&P 500 Index’s rally this year has been one of the narrowest on record, with less than 28% of the index’s constituents beating the overall index return. As shown in the Ned Davis Research chart on the following page, in an average year around 49% of the index’s 500 companies beat the overall index. (The only other year comparable to this year was 1998, as the Tech/Internet stock bubble was inflating. That didn’t end well, but it took another 15 months before it started to burst).
More granularly, with the sudden frenzy in all things AI, the average YTD return for Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, NVIDIA, and Tesla is 96%. The gains in these six mega cap tech stocks are responsible for almost the entire S&P 500 return for the year. Moreover, the combined market cap of these six stocks (plus Apple), now comprises over 27% of the total index, the largest concentration in history for the top seven stocks.
It remains to be seen whether this extremely narrow market rally resolves via the rest of the market catching up or the seven companies mentioned above “catching down,” but improved market breadth would be a positive indicator for the market’s continued bull run.
On a positive note, it appears the stock market rally is potentially broadening to other sectors and markets caps, the small-cap Russell 2000 index shot up 8.1% in June, while the large-cap Russell 1000 value index delivered similar gains of 6%.
The Economy
The current macroeconomic data continue to send mixed signals. On the one hand, the U.S. economy has been more resilient than we (and many others) expected through the first half of the year. The economy has grown, albeit at a subpar rate. The labor market has remained very strong, supporting consumer spending; and headline inflation has dropped meaningfully, thanks to a sharp decline in energy prices. On the other hand, key leading indicators of an impending recession are still flashing red, including a deeply inverted yield curve and tightening credit conditions, among others. Moreover, although the Federal Reserve paused its aggressive interest rate hiking campaign in June, core inflation (excluding food and energy) remains stubbornly high, with the Fed signaling it will resume rate hikes later this year, further raising the likelihood of a recession.
As we read the muddy economic tea leaves through our cloudy crystal ball, we maintain our view that a recession is the most likely outcome over the next few quarters. Historically, the odds are unfavorable for the economy avoiding a recession after the Fed has been aggressively tightening. And we have yet to see the full (lagged) impact of this cycle’s monetary tightening on the real economy.
However, a near-term recession is not a certainty. Each cycle is somewhat different and this one is considerably so due to the pandemic dislocations, and there have been three instances (out of 13) where the Fed tightening cycle ended without a recession. So, a more benign near-term outcome is certainly possible, and the current growth and inflation trajectory is not inconsistent with that.
Stay tuned for our 2nd half outlook....