Skip to content

2024 Global Market Outlook Midyear Update

US stocks face a broadening, not a rotation

US Equities

In recent years, the U.S. stock market has been dominated by the “Magnificent Seven” technology stocks, but there are signs this once‑monolithic group of large‑cap growth firms is beginning to fragment. The outperformance of the Magnificent Seven propelled the S&P 500 to new highs earlier this year and resulted in the index becoming concentrated to an unprecedented degree.

Performance within the group is now diverging, however— as of late May, NVIDIA, Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon have continued to outpace the market, while Apple, Alphabet, and Tesla have begun to lag. As the benefits of AI technology are unlikely to be evenly spread among the members of the Magnificent Seven, further dispersion within the group can be expected.

Fewer cuts should favour value stocks

Meanwhile, value stocks could be primed for a come back as investors seek to diversify their exposure beyond the Magnificent Seven, particularly given growing expectations that the higher rate environment will persist. If the Fed only makes a few cuts or does not cut at all, value companies should benefit as they have tended to be more rate-sensitive and have typically fared better in a world where interest rates remained higher for longer. And while value stocks have begun to perform better in recent months, they continue to trade at a significant discount to growth stocks. If conditions continue to favour value stocks—as we believe they will—the dominance of growth stocks may start to fade.

 

Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance and is subject to change.

Value stocks look poised for earnings resurgence
(Fig. 5) Estimated earnings per share of value stocks set to outstrip growth stocks later this year

Value stocks look poised for earnings resurgence
As of May 13, 2024.
Source: FTSE Russell (see Additional Disclosures).
Actual outcomes may differ materially from estimates.
Each time period shows the estimated year-over-year change in quarterly earnings for growth and value stocks for each quarter this year.

Small‑cap stocks are trading at a major discount to larger companies after struggling for several years against high inflation and a steep rise in borrowing costs. While the persistence of a higher rate environment could limit the upside of small‑cap stocks, the earnings of smaller firms should improve if rates come down.

A widening opportunity set

Although we believe that value—and possibly small‑cap—stocks may begin to challenge the dominance of large‑cap growth stocks, it is important to stress the difference between a broadening of the market’s opportunity set and a rotation between market styles, sectors, or capitalisation. We are not predicting the imminent demise of the Magnificent Seven—rather, we anticipate a continued broadening of opportunities to include more companies and sectors across the market that may have lagged in recent years.

“...we anticipate a continued broadening of opportunities to include more companies and sectors across the market that may have lagged in recent years.”

Peter Bates, CFA, Portfolio Manager, Global Equities

Nikolaj Schmidt, 
Chief Global Economist

Nikolaj Schmidt

Ken Orchard, 
Head of International Fixed Income

Ken Orchard

Peter Bates, CFA
Portfolio Manager,  Global Equities

Peter Bates

Tim Murray, CFA
Capital Markets Strategist,
Multi‑Asset Division

Tim Murray

Global Market Outlook Midyear Update insights

2024 Global Market Outlook Midyear Update

How central bank policy could impact your portfolio

Read more
2024 Global Market Outlook Midyear Update
International Equities

International stocks still appear to be good value

Read more
International Equities
Asset Allocation

Investors moving out of cash may favour equities and short duration bonds

Read more
Asset Allocation

Sign up to receive our monthly Global Asset Allocation Viewpoints from our Investment Committee

Each month, our Investment Committee prepare a report revealing the two market themes they are watching, their bull and bear views per region and their latest asset class over and underweights.

It has been designed to aid you in your decision making and client conversations. 

By providing your contact information and ticking the box below, you agree to subscribe to receive information from T. Rowe Price about its products and strategies as listed above by email or post. For information about how T. Rowe Price processes your personal data, please see the T. Rowe Price privacy notice.

Active investing may have higher costs than passive investing and may underperform the broad market or passive peers with similar objectives.

T. Rowe Price cautions that economic estimates and forward-looking statements are subject to numerous assumptions, risks, and uncertainties, which change over time. Actual outcomes could differ materially from those anticipated in estimates and forward-looking statements, and future results could differ materially from any historical performance. The information presented herein is shown for illustrative, informational purposes only. Any historical data used as a basis for this analysis are based on information gathered by T. Rowe Price and from third-party sources and have not been independently verified. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and T. Rowe Price assumes no duty to and does not undertake to update forward-looking statements. Where securities are mentioned, the specific securities identified and described are for informational purposes only and do not represent recommendations.

Additional Disclosures
CFA® and Chartered Financial Analyst® are registered trademarks owned by CFA Institute.
London Stock Exchange Group plc and its group undertakings (collectively, the “LSE Group”). © LSE Group 2024. All rights in the FTSE Russell indexes or data vest in the relevant LSE Group company which owns the index or the data. Neither LSE Group nor its licensors accept any liability for any errors or omissions in the indexes or data and no party may rely on any indexes or data contained in this communication. No further distribution of data from the LSE Group is permitted without the relevant LSE Group company’s express written consent. The LSE Group does not promote, sponsor or endorse the content of this communication.

The S&P 500 Index is a product of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, a division of S&P Global, or its affiliates (“SPDJI”) and has been licensed for use by T. Rowe Price. Standard & Poor’s® and S&P® areregistered trademarks of Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC, a division of S&P Global (“S&P”); Dow Jones® is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC (“Dow Jones”). Thisproduct is not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by SPDJI, Dow Jones, S&P, their respective affiliates, and none of such parties make any representation regarding the advisability of investing insuch product(s) nor do they have any liability for any errors, omissions, or interruptions of the S&P 500 Index.

MSCI. MSCI and its affiliates and third party sources and providers (collectively, “MSCI”) makes no express or implied warranties or representations and shall have no liability whatsoever with respect to any MSCI data contained herein. The MSCI data may not be further redistributed or used as a basis for other indices or any securities or financial products. This report is not approved, reviewed, or produced by MSCI. Historical MSCI data and analysis should not be taken as an indication or guarantee of any future performance analysis, forecast or prediction. None of the MSCI data is intended to constitute investment advice or a recommendation to make (or refrain from making) any kind of investment decision and may not be relied on as such.

 

Open

Audience for the document: Share Class: Language of the document:
Open Cancel

Download

Share Class: Language of the document:
Download Cancel
Sign in to manage subscriptions for products, insights and email updates.
Continue with sign in?
To complete sign in and be redirected to your registered country, please select continue. Select cancel to remain on the current site.
Continue Cancel
Once registered, you'll be able to start subscribing.

Change Details

If you need to change your email address please contact us.
Subscriptions
OK
You are ready to start subscribing.
Get started by going to our products or insights section to follow what you're interested in.

Products Insights

GIPS® Information

T. Rowe Price ("TRP") claims compliance with the Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS®) and has prepared and presented this report in compliance with the GIPS standards. T. Rowe Price has been independently verified for the 27-year period ended June 30, 2023, by KPMG LLP. The verification report is available upon request. A firm that claims compliance with the GIPS standards must establish policies and procedures for complying with all the applicable requirements of the GIPS standards. Verification provides assurance on whether the firm’s policies and procedures related to composite and pooled fund maintenance, as well as the calculation, presentation, and distribution of performance, have been designed in compliance with the GIPS standards and have been implemented on a firm-wide basis. Verification does not provide assurance on the accuracy of any specific performance report.

TRP is a U.S. investment management firm with various investment advisers registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority, and other regulatory bodies in various countries and holds itself out as such to potential clients for GIPS purposes. TRP further defines itself under GIPS as a discretionary investment manager providing services primarily to institutional clients with regard to various mandates, which include U.S, international, and global strategies but excluding the services of the Private Asset Management group.

A complete list and description of all of the Firm's composites and/or a presentation that adheres to the GIPS® standards are available upon request. Additional information regarding the firm's policies and procedures for calculating and reporting performance results is available upon request

Other Literature

You have successfully subscribed.

Notify me by email when
regular data and commentary is available
exceptional commentary is available
new articles become available

Thank you for your continued interest