Justice Department wins lawsuit to undo JetBlue, American Airlines partnership in the Northeast
2023-05-20 04:42:39
Stocks rose Friday, with technology stocks leading the charge, as Wall Street looked to cap off a breathtaking first half on a positive note. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 310 points, or 0.9%. The S&P 500 climbed 1.3%, and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.5%. Mega-cap technology stocks responsible for a sizeable chunk of 2023′s market gains rose Friday. Dominant artificial intelligence chipmaker Nvidia jumped nearly 4%, bringing its yearly gains to 190%. Meta Platforms added 2%, while Netflix rose more than 3%. Apple added 1.7% to trade above a $3 trillion market cap. Elsewhere, Nike shares bucked the broad market uptrend. The apparel giant fell more than 2% after reporting a weaker-than-expected quarterly profit. Friday marked a pivotal day for investors, bringing the conclusion of the month, second quarter and first half. The last six months saw 2022′s beaten-down growth names make a broad comeback as the promise of artificial intelligence and hope of an end to the Fed’s rate campaign lifted major tech players to astonishing heights. Despite these strong gains, some on Wall Street expect volatility in the second half and likely profit taking from investors that benefitted from the rally. This, coupled with changing technicals, could lead to sideways action, or a slight pullback in the S&P, said Anna Han, equity strategist at Wells Fargo Securities. “The technicals are telling us that this ubercap-led rally has just been overextended,” she said. “It’s been hitting those overbought levels and we believe it’s time for that trade to kind of take a pause.” This is where the major averages stand in afternoon trading: For June: The S&P 500 has gained more than 6% and is on pace for its best monthly performance since October. The Nasdaq has advanced 6.7%. Both indexes are heading for a fourth consecutive positive month. The Dow has climbed 4.7%, and it’s on track for its best month since November. For the second quarter: The S&P 500 has risen 8.4%, on track for a third straight quarter of gains and its biggest quarterly advance since the fourth quarter of 2021. The Nasdaq touts a gain of 13% for back-to-back positive quarters. The Dow has jumped 3.5%, but it’s on pace for a third winning quarter. For year to date and the first half: The S&P 500 has popped 16.1%, and its headed for its best first half since 2019. The Nasdaq has surged 31.9%, tracking for its best first half since 1983. The 30-stock Dow boasts a more modest gain of 3.9%. The three major averages are also on pace for winning weeks, and a gain of more than 2%. Elsewhere, Wall Street got another hint of encouraging inflation news as the core personal consumption expenditures price index, a closely watched gauge by the Federal Reserve, rose less than expected in May. “This is excellent news on the inflation fight,” said Jamie Cox, managing partner for Harris Financial Group. “If you don’t believe disinflation is happening, you aren’t paying attention. The Fed was right to pause and needs to hold firm at these levels to prevent overcorrecting and causing an unnecessary recession to fight a beast that is now under control.” —CNBC’s Chris Hayes contributed reporting. Correction: The S&P 500 was on track for its best first half since 2019. A previous version misstated the year.
