U.S. stocks have had a great year in 2023 — but these numbers tell a different story

U.S. stocks have risen sharply in 2023, with a small number of technology companies driving an ever-increasing share of the stock-market gains. 

While the 11.7% year-to-date gains for the large-cap benchmark S&P 500 index SPX show 2023 has been a “good year” for stocks, that hardly tells the whole story, said Jonathan Krinsky, the technical strategist at BTIG. 

The U.S. stock market has seen the median return for shares in the S&P 500 index rise merely 1.1% in 2023, which is “a different planet” compared with their median gain of...