tech stocks led the way higher for the market in the first half bank of america expects other names to join in on the rally during the second half the first half of 2023 was the best for the s  p 500 since 2019 surging 159 the techfocused nasdaq composite  meanwhile had its best first half since 1983 jumping 317 the dow jones industrial averag e added a more muted 38 gain spx ixicdji ytd mountain major indices however the rally also had the narrowest breadth in history only 25 of stocks outperformed the broader market index according to savita subramanian the banks head of us and quantitative strategy just to get to the historical average 12mo breadth of 50 by year end about a quarter of stocks in the s  p 500 would have to climb at least 57 assuming the index stays flat through the year end subramanian said we expect breadth to continue to broaden out as seen in june and expect the equalweighted index to outperform the capweighted index in 2h she continued the invesco s  p 500 equal weight etf rsp  which tracks a version of the s  p 500 in which stocks are weight equally rather than by market cap is up just 5 year to date however the etf would benefit from a greater number of stocks rising the strategist also noted that despite some improvement in sentiment wall st is still largely cautious on equities which suggests the pain trade is still to the upside subramanians note comes after she took her most bullish position in at least a decade last month citing an improving macroeconomic backdrop despite fears of a recession  —cnbcs michael bloom contributed to this report