With the close of trading on Friday, the U.S. stock market officially ended the first half of 2024 with a strong performance. Due to the AI artificial intelligence craze, the Nasdaq saw a rise of 18.1% in the first half of the year. The S&P 500 increased by 14.5%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average lagged behind with a gain of only 3.8%. As for cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin has risen by 43% so far this year, and Ethereum by 48%.
**Table of Contents**
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– PCE Inflation Data Meets Expectations
– U.S. Stocks Deliver Impressive Performance in the First Half of the Year
– Crypto Market Recently Sluggish, but Still Strong This Year
The U.S. Department of Commerce reported on Friday that the inflation rate for May slowed to the lowest annual rate in over three years. The core PCE, excluding the more volatile food and energy prices, rose only 0.1% from the previous month, with a yearly increase of 2.6%, both in line with market expectations, indicating a continued cooling of inflation.
According to CME Group’s FedWatch data, investors have slightly raised their expectations for a rate cut this year, believing there is a 62.4% chance that the Federal Reserve will restart the rate-cutting cycle in September and may cut rates again in December.
With the close of trading on Friday, the U.S. stock market officially ended the first half of 2024 with a strong performance. Due to the AI artificial intelligence craze, the Nasdaq saw a rise of 18.1% in the first half of the year. The S&P 500 increased by 14.5%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average lagged behind with a gain of only 3.8%. NVIDIA, leading this AI surge, soared by 150%, closing at $123.54 yesterday after a stock split.
As for cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin has risen by 43% so far this year, and Ethereum by 48%. Although their gains outshine the broader U.S. stock market, Bitcoin and Ethereum have shown relative weakness recently, especially as the U.S. stock market continues to reach new highs. Particularly, with the Ethereum spot ETF not yet officially approved for listing, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accusing Lido and Rocket Pool’s staking as securities behavior, suing Consensys for violating securities laws, and selling securities through MetaMask, the overall crypto market atmosphere has become 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. MicroStrategy, a software company that prides itself as a ‘Bitcoin development company,’ has attracted a lot of capital in the traditional financial market by continuously buying Bitcoin. The fund company T-Rex even applied for the first 2x leveraged long MicroStrategy ETF in the U.S. Although there are also short positions betting on its decline, MicroStrategy’s performance indeed surpasses Bitcoin and most tech stocks.
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MicroStrategy Not Enough, T-Rex Applies for 2x Leveraged MSTR ETF
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BTC
ETH
PCE
MicroStrategy
U.S. Stocks
**Further Reading**
– Market Maker GSR: Increased Probability for Solana Spot ETF, Expected to Outperform Bitcoin
– Mt. Gox Bitcoin Selling Pressure Not as Heavy as Expected, Majority Are Long-Term BTC Holders