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Equity Market Structure Compendium

2024 Market Metrics & Looking to 2025 with Our Market Structure Survey

Report Highlights

In 2024, the S&P 500 returned an impressive 23.3%. We have not seen two 20% plus return years for the S&P 500 since the 1990s – 2023 return was +24.2% – a phenomenon which has only occurred four times since the 1920s.

  • Markets – the second year in a row of >+20% returns: The full index outperformed all other selected segments except for growth. It was a year for large cap and growth stocks. Returns declined across the year: 2H < 1H; 4Q < 1H and 2H; Dec not kind to markets. Concentration: Mega caps 58.5% of the index by market cap, 8.4% by stock count; technology 31.7% of the index, Mag 7 34.0%, “true technology” 46.0%; Mag 7 + 2 others >$1T market cap. Mag 7 drove the 23.3% return: only MSFT’s return was below the average S&P 500 return in 2024.
  • Equity volumes – surpassing the 12B shares level: 2024 ADV 12.2B shares, +10.2% Y/Y. Top 15 volume days ranged from 1.3x to 2.0x times the avg for the year. 6 of top 15 and 2 of top 3 were around the Sept & Dec FOMC meetings. Retail % total volumes 17.9%, settling around the 18 level for the last three years (up from 10% historically). After hours trading was 10.8% of total equity volumes, with 5.5% in the 4-4:30pm EST time slot, right after the market closes. On the trading of low-priced stocks, 28% of shares traded were priced $5 or below, with 13.5% priced under $1.
  • ETF volumes – moderate growth for the year: On average in 2024, ETF volume was 2.4 billion shares, +5.8% Y/Y vs. +11.3% for single stocks & +10.2% for total equities. ETFs represented 19.6% of total equity volumes, -4.0 pps Y/Y.
  • Options volumes – can you say 70M contracts?: 2024 ADV 47.3M contracts, +9.0% Y/Y. Index options ADV 4.1M contracts, +7.9% Y/Y; ADV has grown 127.2% since 2020. Short-dated options grew 318.3% since 2018, from 6.0M contracts to 25.1M contracts, vs. +148.4% growth for total options.
  • Capital formation – the good and the not so good news: Positive – $31.3B IPO deal value +55.8% Y/Y, closer in line with historical average. Not so good – # of listed operating companies now 9.1% below the 6,000 threshold.
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Authors

Katie Kolchin, CFA, Managing Director, Head of Research
Matthew Paluzzi, Research Associate

The US Equity Market Structure Analysis Series

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