Why the stock market has struggled without Big Tech's leadership
The US stock market has struggled in 2026 due to the poor performance of Big Tech companies, despite a broad-based rally in the S&P 500 index. The S&P 500 slumped 4.6% in the first quarter, its worst quarterly performance since 2022, as fears over high oil prices and high valuations weighed on the market.
The US stock market has struggled without Big Tech's leadership. The S&P 500 index has a heavy weighting towards a handful of corporate behemoths with high valuations. In the first quarter, 238 stocks in the S&P 500 were up, but the index still slumped 4.6%. Big Tech companies, including Nvidia, Apple, and Amazon, tumbled due to high valuations and fears over high oil prices. The S&P 500's poor performance was driven by the underperformance of these megacaps. An exchange-traded fund that equally weights stocks in the S&P 500 outperformed the index in the first quarter.
This content was automatically generated and/or translated by AI. It may contain inaccuracies. Please refer to the original sources for verification.