S&P 500's Bullish Momentum: Will Big Tech Lead the Way?

The S&P 500 is on the verge of exiting its longest bear-market run since 1948, with a close above 4,292.48 marking a 20% rally off the bear-market closing low of 3,577.03 set on Oct. 12, 2022. Friday's broad stock-market rally was attributed to a surprisingly robust May jobs report, a resolution of the debt-ceiling deal showdown, and bets that the Federal Reserve will not raise interest rates at its next policy meeting. While the S&P 500 has been driven by a handful of large-cap technology firms, the recent surge in tech is finally spreading to the broader market, with the Russell 2000 small-cap index confirming an "overall positive underpinning for the market." However, analysts caution that not all bear exits lead to lasting bull markets, and fake bear-market exits are not uncommon.