The wealthiest Americans have never owned as many stocks listed on the New York Stock Exchange, even though the percentage of households owning stocks is also at a record high, Markets Insider reports.

The latest data released by the Federal Reserve System (Fed), the central bank in Washington, shows that a record 58% of US households owned stocks in 2023. But at the same time, the richest 10% of Americans owned 93% of the total number of shares registered in New York.

By comparison, central bank data shows that only 1 percent of stocks and mutual funds were owned by Americans in the bottom 50 percent of the population in terms of income. The data reflects the situation in the third quarter of last year, the most recent published by the Fed.

During this period, 50% of American households owned stocks worth only $0.3 trillion, but real estate worth $4.8 trillion.

By comparison, the wealthiest 1 percent of US households owned more than $16 trillion in stocks and about $6 trillion in real estate during the same time period.

Buoyed by the prospect of lower interest rates, excitement over the rapid growth of AI-related technologies and US economic growth that beat expectations and recession forecasts, the US stock market posted gains in 2023 compared to 2023. in some places record highs, and in many cases close to historical highs.

The New York Stock Exchange’s return to the positive comes after a disastrous 2022 for some of its flagship companies, such as Tesla, amid a general downturn in the tech sector after a huge surge during the COVID-19 pandemic.