The past weeks have seen a continuation of the market’s positive momentum, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite recording their fourth consecutive week of gains. Over the last month, the S&P 500 has advanced 10.20%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq Composite have posted gains of 7.95% and 13.14%, respectively. Notably, small-cap stocks, which have trailed large-cap stocks by a historic margin this year, saw a significant boost in November. The Russell 2000 surged more than 5% in a single trading session on November 14th following a better-than-expected October inflation report.

Since the last edition of Notes from the Trading Desk, the S&P 500 has showcased a remarkable display of resilience, recording a gain in nine out of the last ten trading sessions and achieving an impressive 7.2% increase over the past two weeks. The winning streak comes as the S&P 500 recaptured the 4,400 level and is back trading above its 50- and 200-day moving averages.

Markets saw continued weakness in the last two weeks of September as long-term yields surged higher. Major U.S. averages closed lower during the period, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 3.31%, the Nasdaq down 3.56%, and the S&P 500 slumping 3.64%.

Markets were slightly lower through the first two weeks of September. Tech was the worst performing sector, which has led to some underperformance of the Nasdaq relative to its peers. The weakness within the Nasdaq has not been a total surprise.

The last few weeks have been largely mixed for equities – though both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq recovered some of the month’s losses last week. Both major indices are in the middle of their worst months since December.

The first half of August was tough for equities. Through the first two weeks, the Nasdaq pulled back almost 5%. The S&P 500 fared a bit better – falling 2.72%.

The start of the third quarter has been strong as stocks have largely rallied. The first half of the year was marked by tremendous outperformance in just a few names.

Stocks were under pressure last week as the major U.S. equity indices gave back some of their recent gains. The S&P 500 broke a five-week winning streak, while the Nasdaq fell after eight straight weeks of gains.

The recent outperformance of large cap tech has finally taken a bit of a breather over the last two weeks. For the first time since mid-April, the Russell 2000 has outperformed the Nasdaq.

Large cap growth and tech’s outperformance of the broader market continued once more last week. According to FactSet, the NYSE FANG Index was up more than 5.5%. As tech outperformed, the Nasdaq gained more than 2.5% last week.