Review of Market Performance in the First Half of 2024 Strong Increases in US Stocks and Cryptocurrencies
With the close of trading on Friday, the US stock market officially ended the strong performance of the first half of 2024. Due to the AI boom, the Nasdaq rose by 18.1% in the first half of the year. The S&P 500 rose by 14.5%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average lagged with a gain of only 3.8%. As for cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin has risen by 43% year-to-date, and Ethereum by 48%.
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Inflation Data PCE Meets Expectations
US Stocks Shine in the First Half of the Year
Crypto Market Lags Recently, But Yearly Performance is Good
The US Commerce Department reported on Friday that the inflation rate in May slowed to the lowest annual rate in more than three years. The core PCE, which excludes the more volatile food and energy prices, rose only 0.1% from the previous month and increased by 2.6% year-on-year, both in line with market expectations, indicating a continued cooling of inflation.
According to CME FedWatch data, investors have slightly raised their expectations for a rate cut this year, believing that the Federal Reserve has a 62.4% chance of resuming the rate cut cycle in September, with a further chance of another rate cut in December.
With the close of trading on Friday, the US stock market officially ended the strong performance of the first half of 2024. Due to the AI boom, the Nasdaq rose by 18.1% in the first half of the year. The S&P 500 rose by 14.5%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average lagged with a gain of only 3.8%. Leading the AI surge, NVIDIA surged by 150%, closing at $123.54 after a stock split yesterday.
As for cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin has risen by 43% year-to-date, and Ethereum by 48%. Although these gains are more impressive than the broader US stock market, Bitcoin and Ethereum have recently underperformed while the US stock market continues to hit new highs.
Especially with the Ethereum spot ETF not yet formally approved for listing, and the SEC accusing Lido and Rocket Pool of securities activities and suing Consensys for securities law violations and selling securities through MetaMask, the overall sentiment in the crypto market has become even more subdued.
Crypto-related stocks like MicroStrategy have nearly doubled (98.92%) in the first half of the year, and the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase also saw a 28% increase. Self-described as a “Bitcoin development company,” software company MicroStrategy has continuously bought Bitcoin, successfully attracting a lot of capital in the traditional financial market. Fund company T-Rex has even applied for the first 2x leveraged long MicroStrategy ETF in the US. Although there are also short positions betting on its decline, judging by the stock price, MicroStrategy has indeed outperformed both Bitcoin and most tech stocks.
