Resilient earnings, improving industrial activity and the AI investment cycle should continue to support equities, according to Putnam Equity’s Shep Perkins. But the same forces driving the market higher are also making companies harder to value.

Equity markets are on track for a strong finish to the year, powered by mega-cap growth stocks — the equity MVPs of 2023.

The first six months of 2023 were full of surprises for investors, not the least of which was a Nasdaq surge of 32% — its best first half since 1983. The S&P 500 Index gained nearly 16% for the first half, powered by mega-cap stocks.

To say Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has changed the outlook for financial markets is a vast understatement.