The major averages finished lower to end the month and the quarter even as the personal consumer expenditures price index data showed slowing inflation along with better-than-expected consumer sentiment figures. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, after initially rallying, fell into the red, falling 45 points led by weakness in Nike. The S&P 500 fell 22 points while the Nasdaq Composite fell 126 points.

The technology-heavy Nasdaq led the way through the first half of the year, climbing 18% led by artificial intelligence (AI) stocks. The broad S&P 500 jumped14.5%, while the blue-chip Dow has lagged, up just 3.8% for the year.

As mentioned, weakness in the Dow came from Nike after missing fourth quarter sales and lowering guidance for the full year. Nike has received at least five downgrades as the stock drops 20%, one of its worst days in several years. Nike did say they are working on sub $100 sneakers for the price conscious consumers. Dow component, Disney fell nearly 3% on no news.

Big cap tech was quiet to end the quarter as Amazon, Meta, Google, Microsoft and Apple were modestly lower. Nvidia was quiet, but still the big winner so far this year. The rest of the chip and chip equipment makers were higher today. Outside tech, the markets were quiet. Banks were modestly higher. The big cap banks are now allowed to hike their dividends after passing the recent Fed stress test.

Yields are modestly higher following the economic data. The May personal consumer expenditures price index data, the Federal Reserve's inflation gauge, showed a gain of 0.1% for the month and a 2.6% increase from a year ago. The report was pretty much in line. The University of Michigan consumer sentiment index for June came in higher than expected, rising to 68.2 from the preliminary 65.6 reading. The 10-year treasury yield rose 2 basis points to 4.26%. The 2-year treasury yield rose 3 basis points to 4.68%.