Wall Street wrapped up the second quarter on an upbeat note Tuesday, with all three major indexes closing in the green as fund managers executed last-minute positioning ahead of the mid-year close. The S&P 500 gained 0.7% to finish at 5,872, the Dow added 0.4% to settle near 43,450, and the Nasdaq led the charge with a 1.1% advance to 19,340 — capping a strong quarter for technology-heavy portfolios.
Nvidia was the standout performer of the session, rallying 4.2% after a wave of announcements from hyperscale cloud operators reaffirming massive AI-related capital expenditure plans through the end of 2026. The news reminded investors that demand for Nvidia's chips shows little sign of cooling, and the stock extended its remarkable year-to-date run.
On the losing end, Walgreens Boots Alliance slid 5.1% after analysts at a major Wall Street firm cut their price target and flagged deteriorating same-store pharmacy metrics. The stock has been a persistent laggard in the Dow this year, and Tuesday's drop did little to improve that narrative.
Broad sentiment was calm, with the VIX hovering at 16.8 — well within comfortable territory. Oil settled at $74.50 a barrel and gold held firm near $2,418 an ounce. With Q2 now in the books, attention pivots sharply to earnings season and any Federal Reserve signals around the pace of rate cuts.