U.S. stocks see gains fizzle, but not without first-half firewor

U.S. STOCKS SEE GAINS FIZZLE, BUT NOT WITHOUT FIRST-HALF FIREWORKS

The main U.S. stock indexes ended lower on Friday after an early rally ran out of gas as investors digested in-line inflation data.

Earlier in the session, the S&P 500
SPX
, Nasdaq Composite
IXIC
, Nasdaq 100
NDX
, the FANG index
N
NYFANG
, S&P 100 (.OEX), Russell 1000
RUI
, and S&P 1500 (.SPSUP) were all on track to post record closing highs. However, when the closing bell rang, none of these indexes scored fresh all-time closing highs.

In any event, the Nasdaq Composite, up 18.1% YTD, and the S&P 500 up 14.5%, have posted strong first half of the year gains. The Dow
DJI
is up just 3.8%.

Ten of the 11 S&P 500 sectors are higher so far this year with tech
S5INFT
, up 27.8% YTD, the leading gainer. Real estate
S5REAS
, off 4.1%, is the only sector in the red.