In a reversal of fortunes from previous quarters, the S&P 500 was a laggard among the large developed markets during the first quarter of 2025. Given that the S&P 500 had generated 2 consecutive years of 20%+ returns in 2023 and 2024, it is not surprising that some of the gains from the last 2 years have been given back. The Magnificent Seven (Amazon, Apple, Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, NVIDIA, and Tesla) were key detractors of performance for the S&P 500 with this group of stocks down more than 15% on a collective basis during the first quarter. The key factor that drove the weakness in the S&P 500 included renewed fears about the possibility of a recession in the US. This fear has been largely driven by the uncertainty surrounding the tariff policy that will be implemented by the Trump administration. Outside of the U.S., positive gains were generated in Japan, Europe, and Canada.