Stocks kicked off the second half by building on a record-breaking rally as expectations grow that the US economy will withstand uncertainties from President Donald Trump’s tariff agenda.
The MSCI All Country World Index, which closed at a record on Monday, gained for a fourth day. Equity gauges in Taiwan and South Korea led advances in Asia, while contracts for the S&P 500 dipped 0.1% after the benchmark notched its best quarter since December 2023.
Treasuries rose with yields on the 10-year falling about 2 basis points to 4.21%. “I do think the second half is actually pretty positive still,” Jun Bei Liu, founder and lead portfolio manager at Ten Cap in a Bloomberg Television interview. “We disagree with many calling for a big sharp fall in the share market. We think the fundamentals of the share market are pretty strong.”
Wall Street’s bulls drove stocks to all-time highs at the end of a solid quarter, amid hopes the US is moving closer to reaching concrete deals with its top trading partners. Bets the Federal Reserve will resume rate cuts powered the best first-half stretch for Treasuries in five years.
