The S&P 500 (SPX) index is up Friday as investors react to the latest economic data release. The November U.S. jobs report shows a 227,000 increase, with unemployment remaining stable at 4.2%. Investors appear hopeful that a strong job market will benefit the economy, boosting the S&P 500 by 0.23% as of this writing.
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Considering this data, the Federal Reserve will likely stick to its plan of reducing interest rates this month. That would be a boon to many stocks on the S&P 500. The index includes many growth and tech stocks that are hampered by increased interest rates. Any cut would be appreciated by their shareholders.
Stocks Lifting the S&P 500 Higher
The S&P 500’s rally is fueled by major gains at several big companies. That includes a 4.71% increase for Boardcom (AVGO), a 3.04% rise for Oracle (ORCL), a 2.8% climb for Meta Platforms (META), and a 1.99% boost for Amazon (AMZN). Additionally, many other stocks in the index are experiencing smaller rallies today that are helping lift the overall value of the S&P 500.
How To Invest in the S&P 500
There’s no option to invest in the S&P 500, but there are alternatives. For example, a trader might pick a few top-performing companies in the index and invest in them directly. Those biggest gainers mentioned above are all solid options for investors to consider a stake in.
On top of that, there are exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that track the S&P 500. Investors can buy into these as another form of indirect exposure to the index. A few noteworthy examples include SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY), iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV), Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO), iShares Core S&P 500 UCITS ETF (CSTNL), and SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF (SPLG).
