U.S. stock futures held near the flatline early Tuesday. Traders are wrapping up a powerful three months for equities, with the last trading day of June also marking the close of the second quarter and the first half of 2026.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose about 95 points, or roughly 0.2%. Futures tied to the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 were each less than 0.1% higher, pointing to a steady open after Monday’s broad advance.

The calm follows a strong session. On Monday, the Dow closed at a record 52,182.74, up 0.59% and above the 52,000 mark for the first time, helped by Alphabet’s debut in the 30-stock index. The S&P 500 gained 1.18% to 7,440.43, while the Nasdaq Composite jumped 2.07% to 25,820.14.

A quarter for the record books

The rally caps a quarter that few investors expected at the start of the spring. The S&P 500 is on track to finish the second quarter up roughly 14%, and the Nasdaq Composite has climbed close to 19.6% over the same stretch. That would mark the best quarterly performance for both indexes since the second quarter of 2020, when markets snapped back from the pandemic crash.

The gains were narrower over the full six months, a reminder that the year opened on a weaker footing. For the first half of 2026, the S&P 500 is up about 8% and the Nasdaq about 11.1%, with most of the advance packed into April, May and June.

Two forces drove the rebound. Fears around the AI trade eased as megacap earnings held up, and an agreement between the United States and Iran to pause hostilities allowed commercial cargo to move freely through the Strait of Hormuz, easing the energy-price risk that had hung over markets in early June. Investors who had rotated away from the megacap technology and AI names that led the climb found themselves chasing the rally back.

Why the jobs report comes early this week

The next major catalyst arrives sooner than usual. The Bureau of Labor Statistics will release the June Employment Situation report on Thursday, July 2, at 8:30 a.m. ET — a day earlier than the typical first-Friday schedule. The shift is calendar-driven: Friday, July 3 is the observed Independence Day holiday, and U.S. stock and bond markets are closed that day.

That compresses the week into a sprint. The report leads with four numbers: nonfarm payroll growth, the unemployment rate, average hourly earnings and labor-force participation. A hot print would revive questions about the Federal Reserve’s path on interest rates, while a soft reading could strengthen the case for easier policy in the second half.

Quarter-end positioning

Tuesday’s session also carries the usual end-of-quarter mechanics. Portfolio managers often rebalance on the final day, selling winners and adding to laggards to hit target allocations, which can lift trading volume and add late-day swings unrelated to the headlines. With tech having led for three straight months, some of that flow may favor sectors that lagged, a pattern that has supported higher-yielding, dividend-focused funds during past rotations.

A new quarter begins Wednesday, July 1, opening the second half of the year and the long runway into the next earnings season.

What to Watch for the Open

  • Futures: Dow futures up about 95 points; S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures near flat ahead of the cash open.
  • Quarter-end: final-day rebalancing flows may add volume and late-session volatility.
  • Thursday’s jobs report: June payrolls land July 2 at 8:30 a.m. ET, a day early before the July 3 market holiday.
  • Levels: watch whether the Dow can hold above 52,000 and the S&P 500 above 7,400 into the close.

The first half ends with the market in a confident mood. Whether that confidence survives Thursday’s labor data will set the tone for the opening days of the second half.