The S&P 500 index rose 0.6% in last week’s shortened week, extending its latest winning streak to a third week, sending the market benchmark to a round of fresh highs.
The week’s gain came in just four sessions as the US stock market was closed on Wednesday for Juneteenth. Prior to that one-day closure, the index hit a new record close on Tuesday. It also reached a fresh intraday high on Thursday.
Home prices have also been hitting fresh records; data on Friday showed the median existing-home price increased to an all-time high of $419,300 in May, from $406,600 in April. This reflects a gain of 5.8% from one year earlier.
The pace of US existing home sales fell by 0.7% to a 4.11 million seasonally adjusted annual rate in May, but this represented a smaller-than-expected decline as the rate had been forecast at 4.1 million, according to a survey compiled by Bloomberg.
The consumer discretionary sector led last week’s climb, rising 2.5%, followed by a 1.9% rise in energy, a 1.7% increase in financials and a 1.5% rise in industrials. Other gainers included consumer staples, communication services, materials and health care.
Three sectors fell for the week: Utilities shed 0.8%, followed by a 0.7% decline in technology and a 0.3% drop in real estate.
This week, the stock market will close out the first half of 2024 with data on May new home sales, the second revision to Q1 gross domestic product, and the May personal consumption expenditures index, among other economic reports.
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