FE - SMID-Cap Moat Companies Shine In March
2024-04-11 11:35:00 ET
Summary
- The 2024 market rally continued in March, with the S&P 500 gaining over 3% during the month and finishing the quarter up over 10%.
- The Morningstar Wide Moat Focus Index had a strong month, gaining 3.59%, and outperforming the S&P 500.
- This quarter, the SMID Moat Index saw the addition of several electric companies, resulting in utilities seeing the largest increase in exposure from a sector perspective and moving from an underweight to a slight overweight relative to the Russell 2500 Index.
Mid-caps posted stronger returns than large-caps in March. Meanwhile, a broadening market may present a supportive trend for the Morningstar Wide Moat Focus Index.
The 2024 market rally continued in March, with the S&P 500 gaining over 3% during the month and finishing the quarter up over 10%. This marks the fifth positive month in a row for the S&P 500 and its strongest first-quarter result since 2019. The market's move up was supported by strong economic data and confidence that rate cuts, despite a delay in timing and reduced magnitude, are still on the horizon. Divergence in the Magnificent 7 continued this month with only two, NVIDIA ( NVDA ) and Alphabet ( GOOGL ), of the seven names outperforming the market. In a positive sign for market breadth, it was previously less favored areas of the market like energy, materials, and utilities that led in March....
SMID-Cap Moat Companies Shine In March