US equities closed out the second quarter of 2026 with their strongest showing since the pandemic recovery rally of mid-2020. The S&P 500 gained approximately 14% over the quarter, while the Nasdaq did even better, climbing around 20% on the back of a tech and semiconductor surge.
The rally coincided with a labor market that refuses to crack. May’s jobs report showed 172,000 new positions added to payrolls, with unemployment holding at 4.3%. The most recent JOLTS data pegged job openings at 7.6 million, essentially unchanged.
What drove the quarter
Tech and semiconductor stocks did the heavy lifting. AMD was among the notable performers as artificial intelligence spending continued to funnel capital into chip-adjacent names.
The S&P 500’s roughly 14% quarterly gain and the Nasdaq’s approximately 20% jump both represent the best quarterly performances since Q2 2020. That comparison is worth noting, because the 2020 rally was a snapback from pandemic lows, a rebound fueled by unprecedented fiscal and monetary stimulus.
