February 2024 SMID Review

Stocks resumed their upward momentum in February, led once again by the surging artificial-intelligence related stocks. New all-time records were hit for the Standard & Poors’ 500 and NASDAQ Composite, both of which have significant exposure to the large cap Technology stocks that are seen as the early winners in the AI boom. These index gains came despite the scaling back of interest rate cut expectations by investors vs. the end of 2023, when pundits were forecasting as many as seven rate cuts in 2024.