Don't look now, but the S & P 500 Financials are outperforming the broad market, as measured by the S & P 500, by 9.3% to 6.3% so far in 2024. They are even beating the S & P 500 Tech Index's 6.1% gain this year. 'Banks Remain Strong Globally,' trumpeted Tuesday morning's note to clients from Strategas Securities' technical and macro research team led by Chris Verrone.
'Some 25 Russell 1000 Financial constituents found their way onto 3-month relative high list, with the Capital Markets, Banks, and Consumer Finance names leading the push.' The 25 financial stocks at relative highs ranged from Bank of America with a market value of almost $300 billion, all the way down to SLM Corp ., at about $5 billion. Relative strength in financial stocks is not confined to the U.S. either.