O S&P 500 posted small gains for the second straight session as investors try to price their portfolios as the first half of the year comes to a close.
The index strengthened marginally by 0.16% or 8.6 points to 5,477.90 points, while the Dow Jones Index closed at 39,127.80 points with a marginal increase of 0.04% or 15.6 points. O Nasdaq recorded gains of 0.49% to close at 17,805.16 points.
The Nasdaq is expected to close the first half with gains of 18.4% thanks to Nvidia’s recovery. After most of today’s session, Nvidia shares remained weak, finally closing with gains of 0.25%. Its movement was contained, however, after Tuesday’s 7% rise.
Investors eagerly await US inflation data for May, due out on Friday. This is the index of individual consumer spending that the Fed closely monitors for the course of inflation.
“The stock market is currently very expensive. Investors believe a stock price correction is near for big technology companies,” said David Bahnsen, chief investment officer at The Bahnsen Group.
In individual stocks, FedEx rose 12% on better-than-expected quarterly results, while Rivian Automotive rose 21% after VW said it would invest up to $5 billion in the electric car maker.
The KBW index for banks also closed slightly lower ahead of the results of the Fed’s annual stress tests.
July is seen as the strongest month of the year for the S&P 500 since its inception and more recently over the past two decades, according to data from Bespoke Investment Group.