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Market Recap
WEEK OF JUN. 24 THROUGH JUN. 28, 2024
To close out the last week of June and first half of 2024, theS&P 500 edged down for its first weekly loss since late May. With that being said, the index rose almost 15% in the first half of 2024. The S&P 500 ended Friday's session at 5,460.48, down slightly from the previous week's closing level of 5,464.62. Although the week ticked a little lower, the benchmark still logged a 3.5% increase for the month of June.
The index's first-half gain still failed to top last year's first-half increase of nearly 16%.
Revised gross domestic product data last week showed the US economy grew at a slightly faster rate in the first quarter than previously forecasted, while inflationary pressures intensified. US consumer spending rose less than expected in May while inflation slowed down at the monthly and annual levels.
The S&P 500's sectors were mixed with advancers and decliners nearly canceling each other out.
Materials and utilities led to the downside with drops of1.1% each. Other decliners included consumer staples, industrials, technology, health care and financials.
In the materials sector, shares of International Paper (IP)fell 6.4% on the week as the producer of sustainable packaging, pulp and other fiber-based products said the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act for its proposed merger with DS Smith has expired. The completion of the merger is still pending regulatory approval from the European Commission and court sanctioning, the companies said.
The utilities sector's decliners included shares ofConstellation Energy (CEG), which fell 8.2%.
Energy led to the upside, climbing 2.7%, followed by a 1.3%rise in communication services. Other gainers included real estate and consumer discretionary.
Shares of Schlumberger (SLB) were among the strongest in the energy sector, rising 3.3% on the week as the company said its SLB OneSubsea unit was awarded a contract by Equinor (EQNR) for the front-end engineering design of a 12-well, all-electric Subsea Production Systems project in the Fram Sor field, offshore Norway.
In communication services, shares of Alphabet (GOOGL)climbed 1.4% as the company said its Google unit will unveil its Pixel 9smartphone at an event on Aug. 13, according to the company's website.
Investors this week will focus on June employment data, withADP set to release its monthly employment report on Wednesday and the US government set to release its monthly non-farm payrolls and unemployment rate onFriday. The Canadian stock market will be closed Monday to celebrate Canada Day while the US stock market will be closed on Thursday for Independence Day.
