Investors had hoped that the stock market would find its footing in 2023 after a tough showing last year. So far, the market has done a reasonably good job of delivering. With the first quarter having come to an end last Friday, major market benchmarks performed well, with the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) seeing gains of 7% in the first three months of the year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI) hasn't held up as well, managing only to post a gain of less than 1% for the quarter. Yet when you look at the stocks that prevented the Dow from losing ground, you might be surprised to see that they all have one thing in common -- and that thing happens to be exactly what many investors thought would hold them back in 2023.

The one surprising factor in the Dow's rise is that all four of the average's top-performing stocks are in the technology sector. Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM), Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Intel (NASDAQ: INTC), and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) were the only Dow components to post gains of 20% or more in the first three months of the year.

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Source Fool.com