Where stock market is headed after wild first half: five charts
stock market, and traders expect to see the same — and more — in the remainder of the year.
The S&P 500 Index has climbed 14% since the beginning of January, notching its second-best stretch of records to start a year this century, thanks to a resilient economy, improved corporate earnings and torrid demand for companies linked to AI. Even with signs of economic cooling, the rally is getting help from a Federal Reserve that’s considering when to trim rates after the most disruptive tightening campaign in decades.
A strong first-half in the stock market has historically boded well for the rest of the year. Whether that will be the case again is anyone’s guess, considering wild cards on the horizon. The US presidential election in November — which may move stocks haywire — is one of them. Uncertainty about the path of interest-rate cuts is another.
After a 500-plus session drought without a record to start the year, the S&P 500 has notched 31 all-time closing highs in 2024 during the January-June period, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Only one other year surpassed it this century, 2021.
The S&P 500’s current bull run has added more than $16 trillion in market value since a closing low of 3,577.03 on Oct. 12, 2022. It now trades within striking distance of 5,500.
Companies in information technology and communication services fueled gains. Those sectors house a handful of tech behemoths including Nvidia Corp., Microsoft Corp. and Meta Platforms Inc. Information-tech stocks have advanced 28% in 2024 and
