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Dow rises 200 points, S&P 500 hits record high as Wall Street wraps up strong first half of 2021

The S&P 500 climbed to a record high on the final day of June to close out a strong first half of the year for Wall Street.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose about 210 points, boosted by strong days for Walmart, Boeing, and Goldman Sachs, to 34,502.51.

The S&P 500 nudged up 0.1% to 4,297.50 for its fifth-straight record close.

The Nasdaq Composite lagged, ticking down roughly 0.2% to 14,503.95.

S&P 500 notches fifth straight record closing high, fifth straight quarterly gain

All three indexes posted their fifth consecutive quarterly gains, with the S&P rising 8.2%, the Nasdaq advancing 9.5% and the Dow rising 4.6%.

Wednesday was the last day of the second quarter and final day of the first half of 2021.The S&P 500 registered its second-best first-half performance since 1998, rising 14.5%.

The S&P 500 clinched its fifth positive month in a row, rising more than 2% in June. The broad index also notched its best first half since 2019.

Investors have “a litany of reasons to stay constructive,” wrote Tom Lee, managing partner and head of research at Fundstrat Global Advisors, citing economic momentum, strong credit markets and possible fiscal stimulus.

Lee raised his S&P 500 target for 2021 to 4,600 from 4,300 in a note to clients Tuesday night. The new forecast represents a 7% gain from here.

Investors have shrugged off high inflation readings and have kept buying stocks on the hopes an economic comeback from the pandemic would continue and the Federal Reserve would mostly maintain its easy policies.

The gains came as nearly 60% of U.S. adults have received a COVID-19 vaccine, allowing the economy to reopen at a rapid pace. Still, new variants of the virus have raised some concerns that more restrictions such as mask wearing would have to be reinstituted because the pace of vaccinations has slowed.

Some investors and strategists have cited the spread of the Delta variant of Covid-19 as a risk for markets in the second half of the year. However, JPMorgan’s Marko Kolanovic said in a note to clients on Wednesday that the variant shouldn’t hurt equity markets, citing low fatality rates in countries with widespread vaccinations.

Stocks likely won’t see big movement until Friday’s jobs report gives a better idea of the state of the economy. Economists expect 683,000 jobs were added in June, according to a Dow Jones survey.

Reference: CNBC, Reuters