Expected US rate cuts drive investors beyond Big Tech

Looming US interest rate cuts are presenting investors with a tough choice: stick with the Big Tech stocks that have driven returns for more than a year or turn to less-loved areas of the market that could benefit from easing monetary policy. Owning massive tech and growth companies such as Nvidia, Microsoft and Amazon has been a hugely profitable strategy for investors since early 2023, even as the stocks’ market dominance has drawn comparisons to the dot-com bubble of the late 1990s. That calculus may start to change following Thursday’s surprisingly cool inflation report, which solidified expectations for a near-term rate cut by the Federal Reserve. Lower rates are seen as beneficial to many corners of the market whose performance has lagged this year, including small-caps, real estate and economically sensitive areas such as industrials.