The is closing out September on a high note — an all-time high note, in fact. That's none too unusual, as Friday marked the 38th session in 2017 in which the S&P 500 hit an intraday record level.
What is notable is the specific stocks that have been driving the market of late.
The biggest contributor to the S&P 500 this year has been the biggest drag on the index over the past month. That stock is Apple, which tumbled nearly 6 percent in September, partially due to concerns about its new iPhone 8 and upcoming iPhone X.
In fact, it is striking to note that not one of this year's five biggest S&P contributors is among this month's five biggest S&P contributors. This year's boosters are essentially high-flying tech stocks, while this month, big banks and energy companies have taken the fore.
On a sector level, the 2017-leading information technology and health care stocks rose a respective 0.6 percent and 2.0 percent in the month, lagging the index's sterling 2.4 percent advance. The financial and energy sectors, meanwhile, rose a respective 4.7 percent and 10.4 percent.
"There has definitely been some rotation going on this month from growth to value," commented Mike Binger, senior portfolio manager at Gradient Investments. "I'm not sure yet if the market is rotating to value for an extended period of time or if growth is just pausing."
Either way, those who complain that the market is only rising thanks to the performance of a small set of booming tech stocks had better change their tune.
