HAIL - Navigating The Markets: Insights From Our Q2 Economic And Market Review

2024-07-24 07:45:00 ET

Summary

• Momentum continued in the second quarter, with U.S. equities still led by the large technology stocks known as the Magnificent 7.
• History shows that a strong first half of the year often leads to a strong second half.
• There will be presidential elections later this year and that likely will have an impact on markets and on infrastructure spending.
• With the Magnificent 7 dominating market performance, small cap stocks have lagged significantly over the past several quarters. We look at what the future holds for this asset class.

The momentum we've seen in U.S. equity markets over the past year continued in the second quarter of 2024. With large technology stocks leading the wave, the S&P 500 index has risen 23% in the 12 months ended June 30. Can this continue?

Well, I don't have a crystal ball, so I can't answer that question. But I can say that even if markets change direction in the short term, their long-term trend is up. We've also found that strong market performance often leads to more strong market performance. More on this shortly....

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