# S&P 500 Marks Four Years of Gains After More Than Doubling By Enna Lee Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/investing/30230 Published: 2026-10-12T11:16:23.000Z Updated: 2026-10-12T11:16:23.000Z Section: Investing > The benchmark has risen about 120%, supported by consumer spending, labor-market strength, earnings growth and artificial-intelligence investment. The S&P 500 has gained about 120% in four years, marking the latest anniversary of a bull market supported by earnings growth, resilient spending and artificial-intelligence investment. The benchmark marked the four-year milestone Monday after more than doubling from the level where the advance began. Higher investor premiums for future earnings and double-digit earnings growth have also supported the rise. Consumer spending and strong labor markets have provided additional support. Artificial-intelligence investment has spread across multiple sectors, adding another source of momentum to the index. Profits and returns have concentrated among a small group of globally distributed technology companies. Because the S&P 500 is weighted by market capitalization, the largest companies have an outsized effect on the benchmark’s performance. The shift has contributed to weaker breadth, with fewer companies driving the index’s gains. That deterioration has drawn less concern because it has been linked to higher interest rates rather than signs of weakening economic growth. The concentration of gains follows a pattern detailed in [earlier coverage of S&P 500 breadth](), which found that only 29% of stocks outperformed the benchmark over the previous three years. ## Links in this article - [earlier coverage of S&P 500 breadth](https://www.tokenpost.com/news/investing/29913)