Stocks Close Out Strongest First Half Since 1997

​The stock market rebounded strongly in June from a weak May performance, with major indices increasing approximately 7% on the back of increased hope for a trade truce with China and signals from the Federal Reserve that a rate cut may come this year. The month closed out the best first half market performance since 1997

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The S&P 500 closed out the second quarter up 3.8% while the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Nasdaq, and Russell 2000 also increased 2.6%, 3.6%, 1.7%, respectively.

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June IPO Activity Takes a Step Back Following May’s Out-sized Offerings

The June U.S. IPO market saw the addition of 25 new companies that raised just over $11 billion in fresh capital, according to the Nasdaq Stock Market website. That is short of the $16 billion raised in June, in which two-thirds of the funds were from two initial public offerings.
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In June, there were two completed IPOs that can be added to the list of high-profile public offerings: Chewy and Slack Technologies. The two companies raised a combined $5.6 billion, adding to the torrent of public market fundraising by technology companies this year. In the second quarter of 2019, capital markets raised $25 billion on 62 IPOs, a significant bump over the $4.7 raised in the first quarter.