Stable U.S. Market Averages After Stellar First Half

Barry Adams
03 Jul, 2023
New York City

Stocks on Wall Street traded flat on the first day of trading in the second half. 

Market indexes showed little movement at the start of the second half after surging in the first half and the Nasdaq Composite index driven by the tech stocks reported its best performance in the period in four decades. 

The S&P 500 index advanced 15.9% and the Nasdaq Composite index jumped 31.7% in the first half. 

Investors are hoping that despite the Federal Reserve's hawkish stance and the expected increase in interest rates by another 50 basis points, the U.S. economy may experience a shallow recession. 

The S&P 500 index advanced over 5% in June and jumped over 7% in the second quarter and soared 15.9% in the first half. 

The Nasdaq Composite increased over 5% in June, advanced over 12% in the second quarter and jumped nearly 31.7% in the first half. 

European markets closed higher on Friday and extended gains in the second quarter and in the first half.

At the end of the first half, the DAX index advanced 14.8%, the CAC-40 index gained 12.2% but the FTSE 100 index fell 0.3%. 

Crude oil prices declined 7% in the second quarter and extended the first half fall to 12%. 

In other overseas news, Japan's business sentiment improved in the second quarter, according to the Tankan survey conducted by the Bank of Japan. 

 Sentiment among large manufacturing businesses improved +5, rebounding from +1 in the first quarter and the sentiment index for non-manufacturing businesses increased +23 from +22 in March, and increased to the highest level since June 2019.  

China's manufacturing activities expanded at a slower pace in June, according to a survey conducted by Caixin. 

Manufacturing purchasing managers' index eased to 50.5 in June from 50.9  in May and reflecting the weakness reported by the National Bureau of Statistics in its official index to 49.0 in June compared to 48.8 in May.  

 

U.S. Indexes & Yields 

The S&P 500 index traded nearly unchanged at 4,452.02 and the Nasdaq Composite edged higher 0.3% to 13,830.38..  

The S&P 500 index advanced 5.2% in June and jumped 7% in the second quarter, third quarterly gain in a row and jumped 15.9% in the first half. 

The Nasdaq Composite increased 5.1% in June, advanced 11.2% in the second quarter and soared nearly 31.7% in the first half of 2023. 

The yield on 2-year Treasury notes increased to 4.93%, 10-year Treasury notes inched higher to 3.85% and 30-year Treasury bonds edged up to 3.86%. 

Crude oil advanced after Saudi Arabia and Russia announced production cuts to bolster international prices. 

Saudi Arabia said it will extend its voluntary production cut of one million barrels per day to August and added it may prolong cuts further. 

Saudi Arabia's daily production is expected to drop to 9 million barrels per day, the lowest since 2017. 

Russia said it will lower its exports by 500,000 barrels per day in July. 

Crude oil increased $0.22 to $70.85 a barrel and natural gas prices decreased 8 cents to $2.71 a thermal unit. 

 

U.S. Stock Movers

Tesla Inc jumped 8.5% to $283.86 after the maker of electric vehicles reported deliveries and production of electric vehicles in the second quarter. 

Chinese electric vehicle makers trading in New York advanced after Tesla reported higher-than-expected quarterly production and deliveries. 

Xpeng Inc jumped 7% and Nio Inc gained 5%. 

Apple Inc edged down 0.6% to $192.94 after a report suggested that the company is looking to scale back production of Vision Pro headsets.