The S&P 500 kicked off the second half of 2024 with its strongest weekly gain since late April, buoyed by rising unemployment 3data that bolstered the likelihood of Federal Reserve interest rate cuts. This rally was further fueled by dovish remarks from Fed Chair Jerome Powell and insights from the central bank's recent monetary policy meeting minutes. Over the week, the S&P 500 rose by 2%, the Nasdaq Composite surged by 3.5%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by 0.7%.

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Thursday saw a significant shift in the market dynamics as investors initiated a sector rotation away from the big tech AI names that have been the driving force behind the recent rally. This move led to a sell-off of Nvidia, Amazon, Google, Apple, and Microsoft, following a cooler than expected inflation reading showing month over month disinflation of -.1%.

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Real Estate led S&P 500 sectors with a 4.4% gain, followed by Utilities at 3.9%, and Materials at 3%. Financials rose by 2%, Healthcare by 2.6%, Industrials by 2.4%, and Information Technology by 0.5%. Consumer Staples edged up 0.1%, Energy increased by 0.5%, and Consumer Discretionary gained 0.4%. In contrast, Telecom declined by 3.6%.

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