The stock market had a weak finish, but 2024 was another strong year, with the S&P 500 index boasting its best two-year performance of the 21st century. A lot of the credit goes to Nvidia and megacaps.
The S&P 500 jumped 23.3% after 2023's 24.2% advance. Together that's a 53.2% gain, the most since 1997-1998 when it rose 65.9%.
The Nasdaq composite rallied 28.6% in 2024. The two-year gain was 84.5%, the best since 2019-2020, when the tech-heavy index surged 94.2%.
The Dow Jones climbed 12.9% in the past year for a two-year total of 28.35%. That's also the best since 2019-2020, when the Dow industrials advanced 31.2%.
Stock Market 2024 Performance
| Index | 2024 gain | 2023-2024 gain |
|---|---|---|
| S&P 500 | 23.31% | 53.19% |
| Nasdaq | 28.64% | 84.50% |
| Dow Jones | 12.88% | 28.35% |
The Magnificent Seven stocks — S&P 500 giants Amazon.com, Apple, Google parent Alphabet, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla — collectively drove the market once again.
Despite essentially sitting out the second half of the year, Nvidia stock easily was the top performer in the Magnificent Seven, surging 171.2% in 2024. Nvidia was the No. 3 performer in the S&P 500 after leading the benchmark index in 2023.
Tesla stock gained 62.5% in 2024, including a 61.3% spike in Q4.
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