NASDAQ, S&P 500 Trying to Rebound From Q2 LowsOn Wednesday, volatility surged back into the market, with the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) spiking 9% after hitting nearly three-year lows last week. The yield on the 30-year Treasury note, a crucial benchmark for mortgage rates nationwide, soared to 4.74%, rising more than 15 basis points over two sessions and nearing its highest close since May 2. As yields climbed, bond prices dropped, with the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF falling 1.3%. Investors fear that the Fed will not cut interest rates more than once by the end of the year and not before November, as suggested by current Fed futures pricing.
All major U.S. equity indices and all eleven sectors traded in the red, with the U.S. dollar effectively playing its safe haven role. The Invesco DB USD Index Bullish Fund ETF rose 0.5%, marking its strongest day in a month. Rising yields and a stronger dollar pressured commodities, with gold prices down 1%, oil down 1.3%, and natural gas down 5%.
Semiconductor giant NVIDIA Corporation has been surging in value and could soon be the most valuable company in the world. The strong gains for Nvidia and other Magnificent 7 stocks have helped boost several major stock indexes, but also show significant weighting for a small basket of stocks. The top five holdings in the S&P 500, which is tracked by the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust, are Microsoft, Nvidia, Apple, and Amazon.com Inc., which are all Magnificent 7 stocks.
Analysts predict Nvidia shares will trade higher in the coming months with strong optimism for new products and continued artificial intelligence growth opportunities. However, the concern for investors could be the high weighting the seven companies have on a composite index that is supposed to represent the overall U.S. stock market. With 500 stocks represented in the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust, the fact that the top seven companies make up 31%, means that 493 stocks make up around 69% of the weighting.
