The S&P 500 ended the second quarter with a technology-driven rally that spurred a 15.29% return during the first half of the year, its sixth best two-quarter start to a year since 1990. Moreover, the near 15.3% performance is the second strongest election year start since 1944. Unusually, however, only a handful of Big Tech company stocks have fueled this year’s rally. Despite a sell-off at the end of June, the primary bellwether artificial intelligence (AI) chipmaker dominated the twoquarter tech rally, up nearly 150% year-to-date (YTD). Four other so-called Magnificent Seven stocks also eclipsed the S&P 500’s first half performance. All three major U.S. equity indices advanced in June, posting their seventh positive monthly performance in eight months.