- Energy continues to outperform other major sectors.
- Dow drops for the third straight week.
- Financials pare early gains to end in red.
Major equity indexes in the U.S. started the last trading day of the second quarter on a positive note and recorded strong gains before losing their traction in the second half of the day.
Following the Federal Reserve’s stress test results, bank shares rose sharply in the early trading hours of the session. However, a bout of profit-taking forced the S&P Financials Index (SPSY) to end the day 0.13% lower.
“We’re carrying on from what we saw yesterday. People are squaring away positions going into the month and the quarter’s end,” Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott in Philadelphia, told Reuters.
Meanwhile, supply disruptions and the Trump administration’s desire to stop its allies from importing oil from Iran continued to boost crude oil prices. The barrel of West Texas Intermediate settled above $74 for the first time since November 2014. Without a surprise, the S&P 500 Energy Index (SPNY), once again, became the best performing sector of the day as it added 0.65%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 62.55 points, or 0.26%, higher at 24,433.14 after rising nearly 1% earlier in the day. On a weekly basis, the DJIA recorded its third straight negative close for the first time in more than two years.The S&P 500 added 2.79, or 0.1%, to 2,719.10, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 10.60 points, or 0.14%, to 7,514.28.
For the month, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.59%, the S&P 500 rose 0.49%, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.92%. For the quarter, these three major indexes added 0.7%, 2.94%, and 6.33% respectively.
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