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The S&P 500 returned to positive territory in 2025, wiping out all its losses, led by technology stocks. The stunning comeback occurred just over a month after the market had tumbled to near bear market levels on April 8, courtesy of President Trump's aggressive tariff plans. Per Bespoke Invest, the S&P 500 erased its 15% year-to-date loss in less than six weeks, marking the fastest recovery since 1982 (read: S&P 500 Makes the Fastest Recovery Since 1982: 5 Best ETFs).
The 90-day U.S.-China trade truce and strong earnings, especially from tech giants, renewed market optimism.
SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY, the proxy version of the S&P 500 Index, is up 0.4% this year. While many stocks powered the ETF, technology has been the clear leader in the latest leg of the rally. Here, we have highlighted five technology stocks that have led the way higher in the ETF over the past month and have a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), #2 (Buy) or #3 (Hold). These are Microchip Technology Inc. MCHP, Seagate Technology STX, Palantir Technologies Inc. PLTR, Micron Technology MU and Arista Networks Inc. ANET.
The solid trend is likely to continue in the months ahead as Wall Street strategists are turning increasingly bullish once again on the S&P 500 outlook for the year. Goldman Sachs raised its year-end target for the S&P 500 to 6,100 from 5,900. Yardeni Research also lifted its forecast to 6,500 from 6,000, implying an additional 11% gain from current levels. Both firms cited easing concerns over a major economic slowdown as a key driver behind their optimism.
April inflation and jobs data added another reason to cheer. U.S. inflation in April cooled to the lowest level since February 2021. The Consumer Price Index, which tracks a variety of costs throughout the economy, rose 2.3% year over year in April, down slightly from 2.4% in March. The softer-than-expected data bolstered the case for the easing by the Federal Reserve.
Meanwhile, April jobs data showed that the U.S. labor market remained resilient amid the tariff chaos. The economy added better-than-expected 177,000 jobs while the unemployment rate held steady at 4.2%, providing further assurance about the economy's health.
Let’s take a closer look at the fundamentals of SPY.
SPY in Focus
SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust holds 503 stocks in its basket, with each accounting for no more than 6.7% of the assets. This suggests a nice balance across each security and prevents heavy concentration. The fund is widely spread across sectors, with information technology, financials, and consumer discretionary accounting for a double-digit allocation each.
SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust has an AUM of $576.1 billion and charges 9 bps in fees per year. It trades in an average daily volume of 66 million shares and has a Zacks ETF Rank #2 with a Medium risk outlook (see:all the Large Cap Blend ETFs here).
Below, we have highlighted the abovementioned five best-performing stocks in the ETF.