The red-hot stock market bull market that began in October 2022 shows no signs of slowing down in 2024. If anything, it’s accelerating.
Despite some bumps along the way, as of Thursday the S&P 500 was on track to post a second consecutive year of gains of 20% or more, an extremely rare achievement.
And as of midday Thursday, the index was poised to hit a new milestone: A provisional 20.2% gain, according to Dow Jones Market Data, puts the U.S. stock benchmark on track to post its biggest return through the first nine months of the year since 1997. Whether it achieves that will depend on how things stand when markets close on Monday, the last trading day of the month and quarter.
Other indexes have also seen big gains, but they’ve been less spectacular historically. Here’s a summary from Dow Jones data:
The Dow Jones Industrial Average is currently up 11.8% year to date and is on track to post its best first-to-third quarter performance of the year since 2019.
The Nasdaq Composite Index is currently up 20.6% year to date and is on track to post its best performance through the first three quarters of this year since 2023.
The Russell 2000 Index is currently up 8.9% year to date and is on track to post its best performance through the first three quarters of the year since 2021.
Speaking of history, if past examples are any guide, stocks are likely to continue soaring in the fourth quarter, with the final three months expected to see the strongest returns of the calendar year, according to Dow Jones seasonal performance data.
