The S&P 500 officially hits a new all time high, now up +4.5% year-to-date

The Dow Jones Industrial Average barely moved though, adding 10 points, or 0.02%, to land at 44,556.34, and the Nasdaq Composite managed to close at 20,041.26, gaining 0.07%, per Google Finance data. Stock futures didn’t do much overnight, with S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures edging up less than 0.01%, while Dow futures added 18 points, or 0.04%, according to data from CNBC.

Meta drops as earnings shake up after-hours trading

Not every stock had a winning day. Shares of the Facebook and Instagram parent ended the day 2.76% lower at $716.37 a share. The stock is up 22.35% this year, making it the winning name of the ‘Magnificent 7’ group of U.S. megacap technology companies.

Craig Johnson, chief market technician at Piper Sandler, said in a note that the market is staying strong despite negative sentiment. “The stock market’s resiliency has been impressive year-to-date as investors refuse to ‘back down’ in the face of rising negative sentiment and concerns about tariff and inflation headlines,” he said.

The stock market has actually been on a wild run for two years. The S&P 500 gained 23% in 2024 and 24% in 2023. With dividends, those numbers jump to 25% and 26%, but JPMorgan analysts say a repeat in 2025 not likely.

Since 1928, this kind of winning streak has only happened once—during the late 1990s tech boom. Historically, the US stock market averages 10% annual returns, according to data from Dimensional. Adjusted for inflation, that drops to 6.5%-7%, a trend that McKinsey data tracks back to 1800. Callie Cox, chief market strategist at Ritholtz Wealth Management, said investors have been spoiled by back-to-back 20% years.

Scott Wren, a senior global market strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute, doesn’t see another 20%+ gain happening. “Do we expect an S&P 500 Index three-peat in 2025? In short, no,” he wrote in a Wednesday market note.

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