Half-year report: How markets have fared in the first half of 2026 and in Q2

The end of June marks month-end, quarter-end and first half-end for 2026. It's been a topsy-turvy year already and we've seen a lot of rotational churn across equity markets even as they've hit new highs. Gold and bitcoin have done rather less well. The AI traded has shifted from hyperscalers to those companies benefitting from their massive spending. A new Fed chair has set in train a regime shift that will have important implications for financial markets going forward. The UK's prime minister resigned. A resurgent dollar sent the yen to a 40-year low as US inflation rose. SpaceX went into orbit with its IPO before crashing back to earth nearly as swiftly. Some big shifts have taken place in the last 3-6 months. One, the US-Iran war has retreated into the rearview mirror, with oil prices back to pre-war levels. Two, the AI trade has seen increased concentration but a shift away from Mag7 (ex-Nvidia) to semis and memory stocks, which have flown. Software was out, in came hardware and infrastructure stocks. Three, the market is adjusting to a new Fed regime that will be quicker to adjust policy rates in order to meet its objectives. These are the parameters for the next 6 months an

Fuente original: Yahoo Finance (https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/articles/half-report-markets-fared-first-152741433.html)