S&P 500, Dow Jones and Nasdaq close the first half of 2026 higher as chip stocks lead Wall Street: Here's why the US stock market ended June strong

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S&P 500, Dow Jones and Nasdaq today June 30: US markets concluded the first half of 2026 on a high note, with the S&P 500, Dow Jones, and Nasdaq all posting gains. Semiconductor stocks, led by Nvidia and AMD, fueled the rally, with the VanEck Semiconductor ET…

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S&P 500, Dow Jones and Nasdaq today June 30: The first half of 2026 ended on a positive note for US markets, with semiconductor stocks leading another day of gains and helping Wall Street close both the second quarter and the first six months of the year on a high.

S&P 500, Dow Jones and Nasdaq Close Higher Today

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 136.46 points, or 0.26%, to finish at a record 52,319.20, the S&P 500 gained 0.79% to close at 7,499.36, while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.52% to end at 26,213.72, as reported by CNBC.

US Stock Market on June 30: Nvidia, AMD and Intel Power Semiconductor Surge

Technology stocks once again set the pace, with semiconductor companies leading Tuesday's advance.

Nvidia gained 2.6%, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) jumped 7.7%, and Intel climbed 6%. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) rose more than 3%, bringing its gain for the year to 82%.

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Dow Posts Best First Half Since 2021

Tuesday marked the final trading session of both the first half of the year and the second quarter.

The Dow finished the first six months of 2026 up 8.9%, its strongest first-half performance since 2021, when it gained 12.7%.

S&P 500 and Nasdaq Record Strong Second Quarter Gains

The S&P 500 rose 9.6% during the first half, while the Nasdaq Composite outperformed with a gain of more than 12%.

Russell 2000 Delivers Best First Half Since 1991

The Russell 2000 delivered the strongest performance among the major indexes, rising nearly 22% for its best first half since 1991.
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AI Spending and Iran War Shape First-Half Market Trends

Although all three major indexes reached record highs, the first half of the year was marked by sharp swings in energy prices linked to the Iran war and ongoing questions about whether AI spending could remain at current levels.

Analyst Says Earnings and Interest Rates Remain Key Market Drivers

Tim Holland, chief investment officer at Orion, said the biggest lesson from the first half was that “Earnings matter more than just about anything, except for maybe interest rates,” as quoted by CNBC.

The second quarter proved especially positive for investors as concerns about the AI trade eased and the conflict appeared to move closer to a resolution.
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Holland said that if hostilities between the United States and Iran do not increase, he expects the bull market to broaden during the remainder of the year, as per the report.

He explained that “The world continues to focus on the AI capex build out and AI trade, and I think rightly so, but if you look under the hood of the market, what’s been working year to date, and at least for the month of June as well is value stocks as opposed to growth stocks,” adding, “Interest rates are probably going to be a little elevated, which tends to be a headwind for higher price growth stocks, but tends to be a tailwind for economically sensitive stocks and the like,” as quoted by CNBC.

Semiconductor ETFs Head for Record Quarterly Performance

Semiconductor-focused exchange-traded funds continued their remarkable performance.

The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) has gained around 70% during the second quarter, while the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) has surged about 94%, putting both on track for their strongest quarterly performance on record.

Among chipmakers, Micron has risen about 240% during the quarter, while Nvidia gained less than 14% over the same period.

US Consumer Confidence Misses Forecasts in June

The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index edged up to 91.2 in June but came in below Wall Street's expectation of 94.2.

The report also showed that the percentage of people saying jobs are "hard to get" reached its highest level since January 2021.

US Job Openings Hold Steady in May

The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) reported 7.59 million job openings in May, little changed from April but above analysts' expectations of 7.3 million.

Hiring, layoffs and quits showed little change during the month.
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