Markets Start New Quarter the Right Way

The second half of the year on Wall Street is off to a much better start. One day after the markets wrapped up their worst first-half-year performance since 1970, all the major indexes registered solid gains. The Dow rose 321 points to 31,097, the S&P 500 rose 39 points to 3,825, and the Nasdaq rose 99 points to 11,127. All the gains were about 1%. Despite the increases, however, all three indexes finished down for the week, reports CNBC. The benchmark S&P fell more than 6%, the tech-heavy Nasdaq 4%, and the Dow 1%.

“What we’re seeing today is reflective of really what we’re going to see here in July, which is continued pressure on the markets, unless we see outsized economic reports on jobs or inflation, or some more meaningful change in Fed policy,” Greg Bassuk, CEO at AXS Investments, tells the AP. Bond yields fell, with the yield on the 10-year Treasury down to 2.89% from 2.97% last Thursday. The yield on the 2-year Treasury fell from 2.92% to to 2.83%. Markets will be closed on Monday for the holiday. (More stock market stories.)