Wall Street had a robust first quarter before the rally came to a brief halt in April. Indexes were up again in May but volatility returned at the end of the month as lack of clarity from the Federal Reserve over the timing of the rate cut dented investors’ confidence.

However, markets have mostly ignored those fears, and all major indexes have hit multiple all-time highs this year. On Jun 10, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq closed at fresh all-time highs. The S&P 500 closed at 5,360.79 points, up 0.3%, while the Nasdaq rose 0.4% to close at 17,192.53 points.

Year to date, the S&P 500 has gained 12.4%. Although the Federal Reserve hasn’t provided any timeline for its first rate cut, it has left interest rates unchanged in the current range of 5.25-5.5% over the past year.

Higher borrowing costs have been hurting consumers but market participants are still confident about the economy as inflation finally started showing signs of cooling in April after increasing in the first quarter.

The S&P 500 rally is also being driven by tech stocks, especially because of the ongoing enthusiasm surrounding artificial intelligence (AI), particularly generative AI. After a stellar ride in 2023, Al-centric stocks are powering the rally this year, too.

Also, U.S. GDP slowed in the first quarter, growing just 1.3%. However, it is projected to grow 2.1% at an annual pace in the second quarter. This led to consumer confidence rebounding in May. The consumer confidence index rose to 102 in May from an upwardly revised 95.7 in the prior month.

Our Choices

Given this scenario, it would be ideal to invest in S&P 500 stocks such asNVIDIA Corporation NVDA, Alphabet Inc. GOOGL, Atmos Energy Corporation ATO and Bank of America Corporation BAC thathave a strong potential in 2024. These stocks have a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy) and assure good returns. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

NVIDIA Corporation is the worldwide leader in visual computing technologies and the inventor of the graphic processing unit, or GPU. Over the years, NVDA’s focus has evolved from PC graphics to AI-based solutions that now support high-performance computing, gaming and virtual reality platforms.

NVIDIA has an expected earnings growth rate of 104.8% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 10.9% over the last 60 days. NVDA presently sports a Zacks Rank #1.

Alphabet Inc. is one of the most innovative companies in the modern technological age. Over the last few years, GOOGL has evolved from primarily being a search-engine provider to cloud computing, ad-based video and music streaming, autonomous vehicles, healthcare providers and others.

Alphabet’s expected earnings growth rate for next year is 31%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 12.3% over the past 60 days. GOOGL presently sports a Zacks Rank #1.

Atmos Energy Corporation, along with its subsidiaries, is engaged in the regulated natural gas distribution and storage business. ATO serves nearly 3.4 million customers in more than 1,400 communities in eight states, from the Blue Ridge Mountains in the East to the Rocky Mountains in the West. Atmos Energyoperates more than 72,000 miles of transmission and distribution lines as well as 5,700 miles of interstate pipelines.

Atmos Energy has an expected earnings growth rate of 9.2% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 0.9% over the last 60 days. ATO presently has a Zacks Rank #2.

Bank of America Corporation is one of the largest financial holding companies in the United States. With total assets worth $3.27 trillion as of Mar 31, 2024, BAC provides a diverse range of banking and non-banking financial services and products through 3,804 financial centers and 15,028 automated telling machines across the country.

Bank of America has an expected earnings growth rate of 9% for next year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 3.5% over the last 60 days. BAC presently carries a Zacks Rank #2.

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