Stocks and commodities are surging together in a way few on Wall Street have ever seen, a sign that demand for riskier investments remains robust.
The S&P 500 and S&P GSCI gauge of commodities enter the last few days of the second quarter up about 8% and 13% for the period, respectively. This would mark the first time that both indexes climbed at least 5% in five consecutive quarters, according to a Dow Jones Market Data analysis of figures going back 50 years.
The S&P 500 hit its 32nd record of the year on Monday, buoyed in recent days by technology stalwarts like Microsoft Corp . as well as consumer-focused stocks such as Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. Facebook’s market value on Monday hit $1 trillion for the first time after a federal judge dismissed antitrust lawsuits against the social-media giant. Shares rose more than 4%.
With the advance, Facebook became the fifth U.S. public company to achieve the $1 trillion milestone, punctuating a nearly uninterrupted rise for major indexes since April 2020. Last week, Microsoft hit a market value of $2 trillion, joining Apple Inc . as the only U.S. companies to reach that threshold.
The persistent climb and flurry of records underscore how the broadest measures of market performance remain remarkably strong, masking volatility under the surface. Even as traders cope with mammoth swings in everything from Tesla Inc . to the price of lumber and concerns about the longer-term economic outlook, many investors remain confident that an expanding economy and rising corporate profits will support further gains.