Wall St Week Ahead: Investors rethink recession plays, boosting US stock market laggards

A broadening equity rally would be a welcome development for many investors, who have worried about the market's narrow leadership.

NEW YORK: A US stocks rally is showing signs of expanding beyond the cluster of giant growth and tech names that have led gains this year, as investors reposition portfolios primed for a widely expected recession.

For months, investors piled into a handful of megacap companies seen as safe bets in uncertain times, spurring a rally that has lifted the S&P 500 nearly 12% year-to-date, concentrated in a small group of stocks.