Weekly Market Performance — June 26, 2026

LPL Research provides its Weekly Market Performance for the week of June 22, 2026. The last full week of the first half was marked by a push-and-pull between AI-driven optimism and concerns of stretched positioning, leaving global equities broadly lower. In the U.S., simultaneous quarter-end rebalancing and mixed mega-cap news also weighed on sentiment, though broader market strength helped put a floor under index-level losses. Internationally, European and Asian stocks also fell amid the risk-off tone. Fixed income markets rallied as cooling inflation pressures and shifting Fed expectations supported bonds, while commodities declined — led by a sharp drop in oil prices — and the U.S. dollar built on recent strength despite easing rate hike expectations.

Stock Index Performance

S&P 500 Index Sectors

Fixed Income and Commodities

Source: LPL Research, Bloomberg 6/26/26 @ 3:25 p.m. ET
Disclosures: Indexes are unmanaged and cannot be invested in directly.

U.S. and International Equities

U.S. Equities: Major equity averages ended a choppy week of trading lower after investors grappled between renewed optimism around the artificial intelligence (AI) trade and viewing the outsized rally as due for a breather. The Dow bucked the trend with a modest advance. The S&P 500 fell, struggling to hold on to early session gains in nearly every session as mechanical drivers around still-stretched positioning, and quarter-end rebalancing dynamics fueled a rotation toward defensive corners of the market. A fairly steady stream of corporate headlines from mega-cap names also acted as a headwind at the index level, offsetting broadly positive breadth and a slide in oil prices. Among highlights, Amazon (AMZN) and Microsoft (MSFT) were seen as potential targets for European Union legislation, Alphabet (GOOG/L) shares were pressured by the departure of multiple AI researchers to competitors, and Apple (AAPL) announced price hikes driven by elevated costs for memory chips. Further, Korean chipmaker SK Hynix announced reduced AI memory chip production and reports that the OpenAI initial public offering may be delayed, also took the wind out of big tech names sails. However, Wall Street ended a jittery week by trimming losses as healthy broad market gains offset continued weakness in chipmakers and lifted the equal weight S&P 500 to all-time highs.

International Equities: European benchmarks ended moderately lower, with more measured declines relative to the rest of the world as a smaller comparative tech exposure aided outperformance. Nonetheless, the risk-off tone still broadly dented stocks and lagging industrials and banking names dragged the STOXX 600 lower. The biggest development of the last five days was Prime Minister Starmer announcing his resignation on Monday, which briefly dented equities before swiftly bouncing on signs of an orderly transition on Downing Street. 

Major Asian exchanges also declined with tech doubts driving up-and-down trading and heavily weighing on sentiment. Mainland China fared the best for the region amid relative tailwinds including fresh plans from Beijing to boost fiscal support for AI consumption and gains in Taiwan Semiconductor’s (TSM) competitors after the chipmaking giant announced price hikes. Hong Kong hovered near a technical bear market as investors continued to rotate toward mainland names and digested weak consumer data. South Korea faced sharp whipsaws which led to multiple trading halts as concerns of an overly stretched rally overshadowed SK Hynix’s plans for a U.S. listing. Japan was also dragged lower by tech shares despite some rise in oil flows in the Mideast.

Fixed Income, Currency, and Commodity Markets

Fixed Income: Core bonds, as measured by the Bloomberg Aggregate Index, traded higher this week as shorter-maturity Treasuries led a rise across the curve. Shifting expectations around the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) interest rate path were tabbed for the move as oil prices dropped toward pre-Iran conflict levels, ebbing traders’ inflation jitters. Upward pressure on yields received further reprieve after the Fed’s preferred inflation metric — the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index — rose slightly less than markets expected last month while first quarter economic growth was unexpectedly revised higher, underscoring the resilient growth narrative. Simultaneously, under the surface, some likely support from quarterly rebalancing away from stocks, and a slight haven bid due to the risk-off tone also acted as a tailwind for bonds. 

Commodities and Currencies: The broader commodity complex traded lower as oil and precious metals prices dropped. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude prices sank over 9% over the last five days, falling near pre-war levels and probing 17-week lows on Friday, as tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz showed some signs of life. While flows out of the Persian Gulf are still far below typical levels, market focus landed on increasing supply and hopes that the worst of supply disruptions may be in the rearview mirror. In precious metals, gold and silver both posted weekly losses. The latter faced stronger selling, extending its recent underperformance of gold, as silver also serves as an industrial metal which increases its sensitivity to shifts in investor risk appetite. Gold traded lower for a fourth straight week as the Fed’s hawkish-leaning tone continued to support the U.S. dollar, despite some easing in rate hike expectations. The greenback held on to week-to-date strength after paring gains from a 13-month high on cooler-than-expected May PCE, and remained on track for its strongest month since March.

Economic Weekly Roundup

Highlights from This Week’s Key Economic Releases:

• Shipments of nondefense capital goods excluding aircraft continue to surprise to the upside.
• Second quarter economic growth will be supported by strong business capital spending since we’ve seen a rise in shipments of capital goods for both April and May.
• The labor market is holding steady as weekly initial unemployment claims numbers are still below 225k. Those continuing to claim unemployment benefits remain historically low.
• On the inflation front, core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) rose 0.3%, in line with consensus but pushed the annual pace up to 3.4% from 3.3% and is putting pressure on the consumer. One item to flag is air transportation since this sector is feeling the burden from the energy crisis.
• The savings rate was unchanged at 3% and is still very low as consumers are tapping into savings to support discretionary spending.
• One encouraging signal is the 0.4% month/month increase in compensation to keep up with inflation.

Bottom Line: If the labor market holds, we expect consumers will have the ability to maintain spending patterns. The real story is the amount of business investment, as measured by shipments of capital goods during May and April. Given the growth trajectory, the Fed is rightly focused on price stability and will remain hawkish this summer. If the Iran crisis creeps into Labor Day timeframe, we have a much higher chance that inflation pressures will seep into other categories and will force the Fed’s hand.

The Week Ahead

The following economic data is slated for the week ahead:  

• Monday: Dallas Fed Manufacturing Activity
• Tuesday: FHFA House Price Index (Apr), S&P Case-Shiller 20-City and National Home Price Indexes (Apr), MNI Chicago PMI (Jun), Conference Board Consumer Confidence report (Jun), JOLTS Job Report (May), Dallas Fed Services Activity (Jun)
• Wednesday: Challenger Job Cuts (Jun), MBA Mortgage Applications (Jun 26), ADP Employment Change (Jun), S&P Global U.S. Manufacturing PMI (Jun final), ISM Manufacturing (Jun), Construction Spending (May), Omdia Total Vehicle Sales (Jun)
• Thursday: Change in Nonfarm, Private, and Manufacturing Payrolls (Jun), Average Hourly Earnings (Jun), Average Weekly Hours All Employees (Jun), Unemployment Rate (Jun), Labor Force Participation Rate (Jun), Underemployment Rate (Jun), Initial Jobless Claims (Jun 27), Continuing Claims (Jun 20), Factory Orders (May), Durable Goods Orders (May final), Capital Goods Orders and Shipments (May final)
• Friday: Independence Day holiday, no economic releases scheduled