- By Holly LaFon

U.S. equity indices rebounded in the second quarter, with large cap value indices gaining back some of their first quarter losses, while small cap indices rose sharply leading to meaningful year to date gains. The Technology heavy Nasdaq Composite continued its march upward driven by the usual suspects (FAANG: Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Google). Potential trade issues/wars remain front and center as they did during March, disrupting markets once again at the end of the quarter after having a more muted impact earlier. The Federal Reserve increased the discount rate at its June meeting, and indicated that an additional three rate hikes, one more than some expected, could occur over the balance of 2018 given the strong U.S. economy. Interest rates on the 10 year government bond rose only 12 basis points to 2.86% after reaching 3.11% on May 17th