Stocks are mixed in early trading, while crude oil is flat-lining at the end of a volatile quarter. Gold and silver are slightly higher along with the US dollar, while Treasuries and cryptocurrencies are losing ground.
It has been one raucous quarter for the stock market! The S&P 500 Index (^SPX) is on track for its best three-month performance in six years, following an ugly start and a strong finish, while the Nasdaq-100 Index is up 25%. Strong corporate earnings growth, solid economic data, and expectations for a resolution to the Middle East conflict have all combined to drive stocks higher.
Source: Bloomberg
Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Stock Exchange Semiconductor Index soared 81% – its best quarter ever. But chip stocks also just suffered their worst weekly pullback since last April amid questions about the sustainability of the gains.
Wall Street is making it rain thanks to the market’s strength. Companies raised a record $251 billion via Initial Public Offerings so far this year. JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) expects another dozen $1 billion-plus deals to hit the tape in the second half, too.
Finally, the dollar’s strength has been one of the quarter’s biggest surprises. Expectations for tighter Federal Reserve policy and a slump in the Japanese yen to four-decade lows just pushed the US Dollar Index to a 13-month high. That has weighed on assets that get hurt by a higher dollar, including gold. It’s down about 10% in Q2, the sharpest drop in more than a decade.
