Marc Briganti is a Market Data Analyst at CNBC.
On a week where oil topped $73 per barrel for the first time in 8 months before receding on Friday, treasury auctions moved the equity market, and GM and Citi were replaced in the Dow, the markets are flat to positive on the week, but the Dow manages to go positive year-to-date.
All major US indices finished in the black for the week, marking three weeks of consecutive gains, as improving economic data released this week boosted investors hopes of a recovery.
All major U.S. Indices ended the week in positive territory, led by a 4.46% gain in the NASDAQ Composite Index. Commodity prices continued to fall broadly across the board, with oil prices tumbling $9.90 this week.
On a down day for the markets and with the exception of the S&P 500, the month of July finished with the major US indices showing modest gains.
Dow performance for the first half of the year. How does 2008 stack up historically?
There are 42 instances where there was negative performance for the Dow during the first half of the year (Q1 + Q2) back to 1900.